Elusive Freedom
by Braget
Summary: Death, he was once told, would be the next great adventure. A rather interesting way to look at things, but he himself had stumbled upon more than enough adventures in his lifetime. So when it was finally time for him to move on. He was much more interested in finding peace and nothing more.
1. Void of Judgment

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight

 **Author's Note:** Okay, so here it is though I still consider this more of a prologue. Now don't be expecting updates to be this frequent all the time. I tend to lack motivation which leads to sporadic updates. And as promised I cleaned up the first chapter and may have changed a few things. I was also of the same mind as you Jayden. So as of right now there won't be any pairings. Thinking of ditching the cannon pairings for Twilight as well since I now have a vague outline of how I want this to go. And I'm quite excited for the outcome. Do you hate the changes? Do you love them? Go ahead and critique away.

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The Void of Judgment 

With a gasp for air he bolted up. Darkness. Nothing more; nothing less. Shaking hands reached out and searched his surroundings. Though try as he might the man found nothing tangible in the darkness. He squinted his eyes as if that would make his environment more clear. When he was unable to make out any shapes he brought his hands to his eyes to rub them. His efforts brought no change to the nothingness around him. Suddenly the feeling of isolation burned fiercely in the back of his throat and he found himself lost in long forgotten memories from his childhood. He forced them away and moved to stand up on shaky legs. He couldn't stay here; wherever here was anyway. This wasn't right and it was destroying everything he thought he knew. All that he had seen and was ever told had spoken about an afterlife of some kind. The ghost that appeared when his wand connected with it's brother, as well as those who never truly passed on; anchored in reality after their time had long since gone.

"Next great adventure, huh?" He whispered to himself. If that's what this was meant to be then he was most definitely disappointed. After the war life had gone on. He had gotten married and his wife had given him children and the man grew old as time passed. The wizard had the fleeting thought that perhaps this was a side effect to his recent illness and he was having a fevered dream right now. Mumbling to himself, he had almost convinced himself that this was surely the case when a voice came through the darkness.

"Forgive me my child for this is anything but a dream."

The voice echoed around him as if the speaker was intangible and a billow of fear wrapped around the man as he searched through the darkness. His eyes picked up nothing and he moved on to other tactics. The old wizard closed his eyes and pushed out his magic. Searching the surroundings for any sign of another presence. His eyes widened as his magic snapped harshly back into him with such a force that he stumbled back. Whoever was here was powerful, so much more powerful than any force he'd ever met before. The man took a deep breath and willed his voice to remain steady as he spoke, "Who are you? If this is not a dream then what is this place and why am I here?"

"Calm yourself child. You are in the Void of all realms. Every soul materializes here once their connection is severed from the physical plane. You are here for judgement as was every soul before you and so will every soul after you."

The man frowned at the solemn tone the other held in it's voice. Why that was the man had no clue. Perhaps it was taxing to judge souls. Yet, in the end all that mattered was that he was mortal and judgement was far above his station. He was a good man, but war had a way of twisting you. He knew that though he was light it did not make him pure. He had done things he wasn't proud of in order to keep his friends alive and had never spared a thought to their enemies when someone he loved was in danger. That was when the rest of what it said sunk in. The wizard frowned as he tried to put the pieces together. "What do you mean by void? Is this the Veil of Death?"

"Yes, this is what the mortal's referred to as the Veil of Death though that is not it's true name nor it's purpose. The Void does not kill souls on its own. Their end depends on the judgment."

And he was here to be judge wasn't he? The man felt odd as panic swelled within him. It had been so long since he'd felt threatened in such a way. His eyes once more began a fruitless attempt to see beyond the darkness. Though when his efforts failed like before his desperation grew. He didn't know why he suddenly feared the thought of his soul being judged. There was something the being wasn't telling him and it was putting him on edge. In a moment of hysterics the man spread his arms out wide and looked up into this so called Void of Judgment. A mocking tone colored his voice as he spoke, "What's the verdict then, oh wise God of Judgment? Suffrage or salvation?"

The being did not respond right away and the silence almost seamed to surge up. It was deafening in some ways and the man felt regret well up inside him and slowly his arms fell back down to his side. The wizard grimaced. Perhaps it wasn't the brightest idea to antagonize the one who held his fate.

When the darkness finally spoke up once more it was with a soft tone and a hint of sorrow. "My child you are mistaken. While I did allude that you were here for judgment I am afraid you will not be judge in the way you are thinking. Not once have I given you a name to call me and though I find it slightly amusing that you would bestow the title of 'God of Judgment' upon me, you are wrong. I am not typically the one who judges souls, but you my dear child are a special case. With death flowing heavily within your veins, I was summoned into the Void of Judgment to hand you your fate. You are only the second to draw me here for such."

So this being was not the God of Judgement. Why was it drawn here for him? What did it mean by saying he wasn't going to be judged in the same way? It was the last part of it's sentences that finally put the pieces together for him. "Death flows heavily within me? That's what you said isn't it?". The being didn't respond, but the man didn't need it to. He stared blankly into darkness as it dawned on him just who this being was. Why was it always be him? That even in death he had no control. Dread filled him and weighed him down. The wizard knew that he wasn't going to like the answers he would receive from his next few questions, but he would not allow himself to hesitate. "Why does death flow within me and how will I be judged because of this? Tell me, Lord Death, how even in your somber embrace I am to be given no peace? How much of myself must I sacrifice before the Gods are satisfied?"

The darkness felt suffocating in such a way that it almost broke him. There were many times in his life that he'd almost broken down, many times that he'd struggled to pull himself back together, and many times where he thought he would fail to do such. He'd always felt like every time he'd reached this point that whenever he would tried to piece himself back together, he always overlooked something and left parts of himself behind. The wizard sometimes hated the hand fate had dealt him and how so much of his life had felt beyond his control. It was only the thoughts of what came after the war that allowed him to accept his hand and move on. For all that had happened, he was glad to have the family he'd built for himself. And yet it seemed he was about to experience another thing outside of his control. First the fates had ruled him in life and now it felt as if he had gained a new master in death.

"It pained me greatly child to see you suffer in life. I realize your want for peace and to be reunited with your loved ones. Though you must understand that you were born with my gift and I have waited for the day that it would awaken within you. With your soul now in the Void it finally has and with it you are meant for more. I have watched over you whenever I could and though you do not wish it, you will once more breathe the Breath of Life."

The words were delivered calmly and with same underling tone of sorrow. He found them completely enraging, but before he lost his temper completely there was a thought lingering in the back of his mind. "Do you have to die in the physical plane to reach this place?" The man waited impatiently for an answer. If that was true than this so called "gift" would have awaken long before. There was something missing from this being's story and he wasn't going to let it slide by unscathed.

"Yes, my child. The souls must be unattached to the physical realm to be ferried here."

The man narrowed his eyes at that and his stance turned challenging. This was looking like a fevered dream after all. His voice was taunt with rage when he next spoke though he managed to keep his tone civil. "Then this gift would have awaken in me when I died before." The wizard grabbed his head and tugged on his hair in frustration. What was with these riddles he received as answers anyway? He always hated being kept in the dark on things. The man paused to snort at the irony of that statement. He was going crazy in this darkness, wasn't he? "I mean I appeared in an altered version of King's Cross Station and was told I could move on or go back. I believe, Lord Death, that you have left out somethings that I cannot easily overlook."

The being seemed grow irritated with his doubts and let out and sigh. The sound startled him as it seemed odd for a God to do something so human. "Child the Void always looks like this. It does not change appearances. Whatever you saw was not what you are believing it to be. This is your first time here and I know this for a fact as this is the only death you have experienced." The God suddenly seemed to lose it's restraint and a hint of anger coated it's voice as it's tone grew in volume. It appeared the being would no longer stand by and listen to his impudence nor would it play along with this farce of an interrogation any longer. "Do you think I would not be aware of when one of my souls died? Did you presume I would overlook you when you have Death's essence? A gift that I myself gave to you. I am a God, child! Such a thing would never occur. What you saw was something else entirely. A curse of Death could never kill you. Death can not be extinguished by Death."

The man froze as the words repeated in his mind over and over again and left him feeling haunted. What did that mean? If that wasn't death then what had it been. The wizard clenched his fingers into fist as he thought about that time so long ago. With a small shake of his head he sighed and closed his eyes. Allowing his anger to fade out as his mind cleared. It didn't matter anymore. He doubted the being would explain things further with it's seemingly reluctance to give straight answers. This was a nightmare. He knew he had no say in this matter from the sound of the God's voice. He wanted peace and yet he knew Death would not grant him such since this being had plans for him. The man wanted to rage and scream and allow the magic sizzling under his skin to be set loose, and yet he felt so weary. What would be the point? The one before him was a God. What could he ever hope to accomplish when his fate was already set in stone? With resignation soaking his voice, the wizard whispered the last few words he ever would speak in the Void of Judgment, "Then divulge to me, Lord Death, of what this means and what sort of obligation I will be filling."

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 **Last Edited: 1/24/18**


	2. Vague Beginnings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Authors Note: And here we have chapter two. No sign of Twilight yet as we still have a few chapters before then. Don't worry they'll show up eventually and this is more of a world building chapter and introduction than anything else. Oh, and if it's not obvious from chapter one this story is an AU and the characters will seem OOC at times. Enjoy!**

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Vague Beginnings

He sat on an old rickety bench staring off into the distance. Broken swings and warped slides unseen as he contemplated his new existence. Three shrouded figures floated behind him. In life he had such a strong fear of the creatures and in death he found himself too empty to understand why.

He had thought nothing of it when Lord Death had first spoken the term "Void of all realms". Now though here he was in an unfamiliar world all alone and invisible to all but the dark beings that hovered around him. He wasn't in an alternate reality nor a different dimension. From what he could gleaned from Death, none of the realms connected except for to the Judgement Void. He was never born here and never would be. Magic like he knew it was nonexistent in this realm.

A sudden pulse from his soul had him standing. He moved away from the desolate park and up the street. As he did, he spoke softly to a few of his swarming underlings, "You know where you must be. Go, I am in no need of your lingering." The entities seemed to hesitate for a moment before they filter off to their responsibilities.

As the once more young man continued down the vacant street he was grasped by surrealism. He did not know how many realms there were but he understood enough to know there were at least three. Death had said so himself when he had told him that he'd judge one other once before. He assumed that the one before him had been given the same burden to bear. He was the death of this realm. Unseen by the shackled souls around him be they mortal or immortal. The dementors were here to help ferry souls to the Void and since he was connected to all of the souls in his realm, he would send the information of which souls needed to be ferried through the link he shared with them. His creatures could only gain that information from him. That brought up the question of who had ferried the souls before him? Was there no one before him? That wasn't possible. There were signs of Death's influence when he arrived in the form of graves. Did that mean the dementors had always ferried the souls? It was true that they were already here when he arrived, but surly not. When he got here a link snapped in place attaching them to him, but he had to reel them in as they were taking souls that were not yet ready to be severed from the realm. It couldn't be possible that they had been running wild dragging just any soul into the Void. Lord Death would never have allow such a thing. So there must have been someone before him. The question was who?

It didn't make any sense; he was the end of all things in this realm and when the time came and this realm finally stuttered out he would receive his desire for freedom. And yet this realm was fairly new, but well developed by the time he'd arrived. Where was the one before him? What had happened?

The wizard didn't have any of the answers and that bothered him. For now though, it seemed as if this realm was his prison and his title was Death with his underlings as his guards. The young man felt a brief moment of dark amusement at how wrong his souls were when they thought of him as an old thin man leading his grim reapers. Lord Death had changed him back into how he was when he won the war. It was strange and he wasn't expecting it. It made him feel as if everything before this realm, his family and friends, had never happened. Almost as if he died in the battle. He knew better that that, but he sometimes missed his wrinkled face. He was old and while he had been sad to leave his children behind, he was ready to move on and be reunited with those waiting on him.

It was with a heavy heart that he thought of how long he'd have to wait for such a thing now. This realm; everything was so different here. It held mortals, vampires, and shifters. Nothing else of interest beyond the plant life and animals. He was broken from his mussing as another pulse wracked his soul. The man let out a despondent sigh and in the next step he was gone leaving only a wisp of dark smoke to disperse into the air.

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He reappeared in what he designated as the Ancient Void. It was through this that the realms were connected. The Ancient Void was linked directly to the Void of Judgment and after the souls were judged they were brought here. He knew naught of how this link was formed nor who judged them, but he did know that there are always more souls delivered to the Judgment Void than are returned to the Ancient Void. He was still unable to figure out what happens to the souls that never return. The wizard was sure that whatever it was, it was nothing good.

This was were he dwells most of the time. It had a lingering darkness, but unlike the Judgement Void where you can't see the souls, the souls pulse brightly. It's here that he uses his new powers in the one way that his dementors can't. He filters the souls back into the physical realm. Which was why he was here now. Whenever the Ancient Void housed too many souls they would begin to resonate with each other and create a pure plus of soul energy. For it to reach him in the realm it meant that the energy was overflowing. This could cause cracks in the Void and destroy it.

The new Death knew to only filter out the restored soul, they would not last long other wise. Yet, sometimes he was given no choice. He needed to keep the Ancient Void whole and so it was with regret that he sent the realm souls not yet ready to leave when necessary. Unfortunately, this lead to a short life for some. Which brought him to his final task. Once room was made, the man could begin the creation of new souls and replenishing the ones that did not return.

He found his mind drifting back to that same question as he gathered his power from within. There had to have been someone before him. The Ancient Void would have shattered already if left unattended for too long and someone had to have been creating souls for the realm. He was missing something, but what?

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 **Author's Note: Edited 11/28/17**


	3. The Allied Souls

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: I know I said it'd be a few chapters before anyone from Twilight showed up, but change of plans. They really weren't supposed to, though in the end the words just kept on flowing. So, tell me, were you expecting this? Also, try to guess who the first character to appear was. I gave some subtle hints and want to know if they were too obvious or not.**

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The Allied Souls

Decades; centuries, time felt endless in his realm. He'd been alone for so long now just watching the souls around him. Remaining stagnant as he witnessed time and time again how his souls destroyed and rebuilt the realm. A ceaseless cycle. During this time he came to the realization that Death is not a title that fits him. While it was true that he ferried souls to the Void, it was also true that he forged new ones. Establishing a steady balance to the realm. It was with this thought that one day he dropped the name Death and instituted a new one, the One Balance.

He knew there was someone before him, of this he was sure. With that in mind he managed to come up with a theory and throughout the years he perfected it. Whether he was right was another thing entirely. He was so naive in the beginning. The other soul Lord Death spoke of had to have been the one before him. At first he believed there were at least three realms. Now though it seems as if there were only two. He theorized that once long before, Lord Death commanded both realms; going so far as to suggest that perhaps at one point the two realms were whole and what he knows now as the Ancient Void somehow split from the Void of Judgement and formed it's own realm. He knows this realm was developed long before he arrived and thinks it was reborn and the one before him was given peace.

With them gone Lord Death once more took command of both realms, but as the new realm grew in size it became difficult. From what he knows about souls; he is aware they must remain in the Void in order to restore themselves. The man could only imagine how long it took Death to create a soul able to carry his powers and have it remain longer from the Void than a normal soul. With this logic it could be concluded that this soul would need a longer than average time to restore itself after returning to the Void. This being the first soul he created in such a way; it was possible Death would not know how long it would last or even if his plan would work. Perhaps he planned to only make one soul in his own image, but with the size of this realm growing; Lord Death was unable to wait and forged another soul with the same powers as the first, him. The two soul were just that, souls. They were not Gods as they were created, not born. The first having need to restore itself, Lord Death would have had to take charge of both realms while also creating a unique soul that would; upon reaching the Judgement Void; awaken.

That brought up a peculiar question. Did the other Gods do the same? The thought that he was not as alone as he first believed had him beginning a search. How many were there? He only played a small part it this realm and dealt only with the souls. The other Gods could have chosen some of Death's souls and inserted their own powers within them. The problem was that while he believed this, there was no telling if it was true nor how long it would take to find them. Well then, let the search begin.

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It took what felt like an eternity to find the first one. They did not have a connection like the Gods did so it was hard to find her. The first was a woman, her soul enhanced just like his yet with a power so foreign to his own. It happened while he was roaming aimlessly throughout the realm. He stumbled upon her and they both seemed to stop and stare at each other in disbelief. He had searched for so long and to wander upon her seemed like a dream. Her physical form was slightly older then his, entering her late twenties maybe. She had light brown hair with subtle caramel hints and her eyes were brown and filled with relief as she stared at him. It was her that found her voice first.

"I was not aware there were others." She said moving forward till they stood but a few feet away from each other. He smiled as he replied, "I'd hoped, though was never really sure. I go by the name of Balance."

She smiled back at him and motioned for him to follow her. "I started calling myself the Mother not long after I first came here. Come let me show you my role in this realm." She led him to a house a block away and merged through the wall. Once on the other side he saw her waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him and seeing him she started the journey up. He fell into step behind her, watching as she led him to a room with two, no three souls. She leaned over the tangled couple slumbering in the bed and let out a breath filled with the essence of life; it moved towards the woman and encased her.

He startled as he felt the young soul pulse within its mother. She continued, moving her hands to hover over the woman and he witnessed as a soft glow appeared. The man was awed. This felt like magic. Slowly the glow began to fade and the soul gave one more steady pulse before stilling once more. She had gifted the soul with something. What that was he was unsure of. "I know you've given the soul something. Brought it life and made it's anchor more concrete in the realm. The magic however..." He trailed of as she turned back towards him.

"My responsibility for the realm is to give souls the Breath of Life. It awakens them in the physical realm similar to how souls awake in the Void. What you saw after was not magic. I have given the child traits that will reflect a personality. The energy of the souls of the parents is what guides me in that." She told him softly. Incredible, he had never thought to wonder about how the dormant souls awoke once in the realm. The Mother was the perfect name for her. He may have created souls but to give them life was remarkable. "That was quite a powerful experience." He replied quietly.

"Thank you, I have always loved children and to give them life is wonderful.", she smiled back at him. The man turned making a motion for her to walk with him. When they reached the outside and began walking down the street he continued.

"I am the balance of the souls." He told her. "I send them to the realm from the Ancient Void and ferry them to the Judgement Void once the connection severs. They appear back in the Ancient Void though not all return. In order to maintain the balance of the realm I have to create new souls for every one lost." He glanced over at her to see her gazing at him with shock. He couldn't hold back a light laugh as he watched her try to compose herself enough to speak.

She took a breath and finally replied. "Balance fits much better than Death. You chose your name well." She gave him a soft smile before continuing. "And it was you who would bring the souls back to the realm. I had always wondered how they returned. I once saw a shrouded figure drawing out souls at a hospital and figured that it was some kind of reaper." She paused and looked towards him for conformation. He gave a nod and she carried on speaking. "So you command those beings then. I'm slightly jealous as it is only I here. I have been working to aide the Goddess of Life and help like your reapers would have made things much easier." She was quiet for a moment and Balance waited, sensing she wasn't done. "What is this Ancient Void? I have never heard of such a thing." She asked. He wasn't too surprised by her question. From the little information he got from the God of Death, he came to the conclusion that though he was gifted with Death's power the being still saw him as mortal. The Lord Death had given off the impression that Balance only needed to know enough to do the job assigned to him. It wasn't that far off to think the other Gods worked along the same lines.

He held out a hand to her. "Let me show you. It is similar to the Judgement Void but not the same." The Mother hesitated before finally reaching out and grasping his hand. The man gathered his power and manipulated it to cloak both of them. The feeling of being engulfed surrounded the woman and she closed her eyes tightly; her body taunt with tension as the feeling of being pulled underground suffocated her. It didn't take long for it fade but a certain heaviness still weighed down on her, as if her soul was now anchored. "Open your eyes Mother. This is the Ancient Void."

Slowly she did, expecting complete darkness. She was instead greeted by hundreds of souls wavering in the open space. The woman walked towards the one closest to her; it was warped oddly; and gasped as she felt a soft pulse emitting from it. Balance followed after her and reached out to grasp the soul. The Mother watched as his power wrapped around it. Her eyes widened as it faintly began changing its form.

Her tone was filled with amazement when she spoke. The sound almost a whisper. "This is what you meant. A new soul. Balance this is beautiful." She looked on as his power began to dim and couldn't hold back a slight disappointment. She watch as he gave it a gentle push and it drifted away before once more lingering in the open space. The Mother could tell the soul was nowhere near ready to enter the realm. She glanced back at her new companion. "How long does it usually take to create a new soul?" She questioned him.

"Around a decade, sometimes longer if something goes wrong and I have to fix it. It can take years to mend damages. I always work on multiple souls at the same time because of this. The one you just saw is my newest." He answered as he moved away from her and towards a few other souls. She observed as his power seemed to stretch away from him and out towards different souls. He stopped and raised his right hand and gradually drew it closer to his chest. The power responded by gathering the souls they enclosed and drew them towards him. The woman moved forward, watching closely and asked, "Are you sending these to realm?" Balance nodded. Once they hovered in front of him he sharply flung his hand down to his side and the power disconnected from him. It seemed to spread out around each soul. Suddenly, it shot off above them and disappeared. The Mother's eyes widened when she felt a connection fall into place, linking her to the new souls in the realm. She gave the man smile before announcing, "It seems I have work to do." She held out her hand in a signal for him to return her to the realm.

"Before I return you we should form a link between us so we can stay in contact. Also if you could search around for more of us, it would make thing easier on me." He let out a chuckle when she gave him an astonished look. "You think there's more like us?" She questioned. He nodded and a blinding smile swept across her face. She pulled forth a small bit of her power and Balance, catching on quick, did the same. They gently connected them together and a harsh crack split the silence when their powers connected; making them jump in fright.

The effect was instantaneous. He could feel it. A thin surge of energy connecting them; similar to the link he had with his dementors, yet less powerfully. Balance let out laugh and grinned. The Mother smiled back, watching him with wonder. He could understand the feeling. Being invisible for so long made it astounding to find someone who could see you. The experience felt unreal which was one of the reason he wanted the link. Now he wouldn't have to search for her again and could follow the link to her. With this, he would never have to wonder if she was real or if his mind had conjured her up to rid him of his loneliness. How could he ever think of this as nothing more than a figment, when this new energy was channeling lethargically between them.

He took her hand and with the feeling of ascending and her body growing lighter; she soon found herself once more in the realm. She sent the young man a soft smile. "I will look for the other when I can and thank you for this. It's a weight of my chest knowing I am not totally alone." With that said she turned away and began walking; slowly fading and leaving nothing but smoke to linger through the air.


	4. A Soul's Family

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note:** **I had this chapter done as soon as I finalized chapter three. I don't know what it is about this story that has the creative juices flowing, but I'm not upset about it. It's been years since I've been so excited to work on something.** **Close, but no cigar Jayden. Good to know it wasn't obvious.** **Also, sorry to burst your bubble, lazygirl89, but as of right now, this story won't have any pairings. I may hint at some, but nothing definite. I've got a solid story line at this point but thanks for the suggestion. Though, it's always possible to add pairings later.** **Alright, enough rambling. I've noticed that there are a few spelling errors and misplaced punctuation throughout some of the other chapters and have decided to do a final edit once I mark this story as complete. I'm telling you all this now since I know sometimes people like to point them out. I don't have a Beta and edit all my work on my own so it's bound I'll miss thing, but I promise if you're all patient then they'll be fixed eventually.**

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A Soul's Family

The search went on. He met up with the Mother every few months, when they both had the time. They would talk about how they were fairing in this realm and what they missed from the original. It was during one of these conversations that she brought up her past. Knowing what he did now, he wondered if it was their setting that triggered it. It was late in the afternoon and they had been sitting in a courtyard, watching as a wedding proceeded, when she first spoke up. He learned she was born eighty-five years before him as Esme Anne Platt and had died when she was only twenty-six in 1921. The Mother's story was just as tragic as his own. Unfortunately, it did not end with a happy ending like his. The woman described her childhood growing up on a farm and he'd laugh at the trouble she'd managed to get into. She spoke of her dream to move off the farm and become a school teacher and yet her parents pressured her to stay and take a husband. Her voice lost it's enthusiasm and grew solemn, "I ended up marrying a man named Charlse Evenson. Ours, I'm afraid, was not a happy marriage." She sighed and gazed wistfully at the bride. Balance made a soft noise of comfort **.**

The woman glanced at him with a reassuring smile and continued. "He wasn't who I thought he was. He was cruel and abusive. My family encouraged me to keep quite about it." She must have seen the look on his face as she pressed on. "You have to understand, Balance. Such a thing, was considered an immense scandal back then and if word ever got out, it would have brought shame on both of our families. Even if I had gone against my families wishes, it is unlikely another man would take me after that." She was right. He didn't understand that. Her family should have protected her. He had always dreamed about leaving his own family when he was a child. He would have hoped that if he had living relatives on his father side, that they would have cared enough to help him. The man's voice was small when he asked her what he feared. "Is that how it happened? Please, Mother tell me this is not how you died." She was so kind and considerate, how anyone could hurt her was beyond him. His heart bleed for her. Balance, himself, was all too familiar with abusive backgrounds.

The woman shook her head and he watched as her eyes teared up. Her voice faltered as she advanced onward with her tale, "He was drafted into the army during World War 1. I was so relieved and I finally felt safe." She suddenly turned to him. "Tell me, was it wrong of me to hope he would die in the war. Does that make me the same as him? I'm not a monster, Balance. I'm not." The Mother sobbed out. Her hands reached out and clutched onto his cloak. Balance wrapped his arms around her, soothing her the best he could. He glanced over at the wedding and the sorrow he felt for her was overwhelming.

"No, it doesn't. You don't have to defend yourself to me, Mother. I promised you; you are anything but a monster." He whispered to her. He watched on as the wedding drew to a close; the souls there not once acknowledging them. Gradually the woman calmed down. She pulled away from him and apologized. He shook his and waved it away. She had nothing to feel sorry for. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before she picked up where she left off. "He came back though and once more I was in hell. Soon after that, I discovered I was pregnant." She took a deep breath and continued, "I was terrified for my unborn child and fled to stay with one of my cousins. He managed to track me down though and I ran as far as could, to a place I hoped he would never find me." She gave a strangled laugh. "I became school teacher just as I always wanted and in 1921 my child was born." The man want to tell her that was wonderful, but from look in her eyes it was not. "It was only two days later that my baby died from lung fever. I was devastated. Soon after that I threw myself off a cliff. What else did I have to live for if not my child? That was all I could think of. It was like a mantra that repeated over and over in my head. The impact killed me." Her voice trailed off and she kept her eyes away from him. Suicide. What could he possibly say to that? Were there even any words that could offer comfort? He had three children himself when he was in the other realm. The man did not want to imagine the pain he would have felt if had he lost one of them. Just the thought had a lump forming in his throat. He looked over at her. It was tragic what she had gone through, made all the more worse because he knew she would have been a great mother. He saw it in the way she cared for the souls. He wonder if that was why she called herself the Mother. The name really did fit.

They sat in silence, the sky had long since become dark. The wedding party had moved inside for their reception and the laughter he heard almost sounded like it was mocking the woman beside him. His soul grieved for her. Balance wondered if he should confide in her his own past. In the end, he decided against it. They needed to head back soon and he could always tell her another time.

* * *

It was two years after she revealed her past that Balance came up with an experiment. He brought it up the next time they saw each other. "I started wondering if we could send energy down our link as a signal to meet. We always end up following it to each other only to find out that one of us is too busy. I figured that maybe we can send a jolt of power similar to what I do with my dementors." He looked at her, trying to gauge her thoughts. She was quiet for a brief moment before nodding, "It's certainly possible." She paused, refining her thoughts and continued, "Though I doubt we'll be able to accomplish anything near what you can do with the dementors. And if we can make this work, then we could use it call each other, if either of us finds others like us."

With that established, their meetings turned to them testing the limits of their link. They had a few hiccups here and there, like when the Mother overcharged her power and almost fried him. Luckily he thought fast and shot his own power back, diminishing the impact a bit. She was completely hysterical afterwards; fretting and crying over him and apologizing again and again. When she acted like that it reminded him of Mrs. Weasley, he even told her so and whenever he did she'd beam at him; happiness exuding from her. It was a only their third meeting after he had finally confessed his past to her and the Mother was always fretting now, afraid he was going to fall into danger with his luck. As the young man thought back to that conversation he felt love swell him. In the end he found himself with another motherly figure. He felt childish because of it. He was how old? Though he still hasn't said anything to her about it, he suspected she saw him in the same way. He knew it was probably the aftermath of being raised by the Dursleys. He had the same relationship with Molly in the other realm too and it only strengthen with the marriage to her daughter. His soul ached thinking of his family, but soared at the thought he was creating a new one.

It was while they were taking a break from their experiment that he divulged his past. They were resting on a bolder near a cliffs edge and their location had him thinking of all he had learned about her. He meant to start it off softly, but his voice came out emotionless and blunt. "I was raised by my Aunt and Uncle." He began. The woman looked at him and waited for what would follow. The man hesitated before continuing. "They despised me because I was different." He averted his gaze from her and instead peered down at the trees below. "They had their own son, Dudley, my cousin. And he holds just as much blame as them for my less than stellar childhood." Balance paused to draw in a breath. Even now after centuries this was still difficult.

"I spent the first eleven years of my life being told that my father was a drunk and killed both himself and my mother in a car accident." He gave a dark chuckle and showed her the scar on his head. "They claimed that I received this scar from it. My Aunt would tell me over and over again that they didn't have to take me in, but they did so in the goodness of their heart." The man jumped slightly as an armed wrapped around his shoulder. He glanced at the Mother and sighed before moving on, "My bedroom was a small cupboard under the stairs and I did all the household chores from as far back as I can remember; cooking, cleaning, and even the gardening." From the corner of his eye he saw her grimace. "The barely fed me and I was punished every time I did better than my cousin at school. Actually I was punished for quite a bit of things. If I burnt their meal or broke something whilst cleaning or if I didn't weed the garden well enough." The Mother suddenly interrupted him, "They beat you, didn't they? You were only a child, how could they?" Her voice was outraged as she spoke. He spoke up quickly with meager platitudes. "No never." He intervened. "Well usually never. My Aunt sometimes struck me with a book to the back of the head if she was supervising while I was cooking and my Uncle would grasp my arm to tightly when throwing me back in the cupboard. It was mostly Dudley and his friends that did the damages, when they chased me down and hit me. A game they called Harry Hunting. Mostly I was punished for the 'freaky' things I did." He glanced at her in reassurance. She didn't look anymore pleased but dropped the subject anyway. "Your name was Harry then?" She questioned instead. The man nodded, continuing. "My name was Harry James Potter and when my eleventh birthday was approaching I received a letter." He paused chuckling amusingly, "Well more like a hundred letters."

And so he told her. He told the woman about the wonder of magic and the hidden darkness under the surface. He confessed his whole life to her and every time she grew angry on his behalf, he felt their connection grow stronger. He gave her an overview on his school life and only skimmed the exterior of the war against Voldemort. It wasn't until he came to his marriage that he began to linger. "She was beautiful." He told her nostalgically. "Her name was Ginevra Molly Weasley, well by then it was Ginevra Molly Potter, nee Weasley. Though she preferred 'Ginny'. Her personality was just as brilliant as her red hair." The man trailed off with a sigh filled with longing. "We had three wonderful children together, two boys and a little girl; James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lilly Luna. They were perfect." Balance glanced over to the woman beside him. She was looking toward to rising sun, smiling gently into the view. The man kept on, telling her of their days in Hogwarts and their jobs after. He smiled himself thinking back to his grandchildren, but soon grew sorrowful at the though of his late wife. "Ginny passed away from a multiple of magical diseases. The healers did their best to make the last of her days full of comfort. It broke me a little when she left." He told the woman regretfully. "I was never the same after, even now a part of me feels missing."

A gentle squeezed to shoulder seemed to say that he wasn't alone anymore. He sent a soft smile towards the Mother. "It was three years latter that I succumbed to my own illness. I was conflicted. While happy to be reunited with my loved ones; I was also distraught to leave some behind." He gave a wet laugh. "Imagine my horror when I was told by the God of Death that not only could I not move on, but I wasn't returning to family either. And now here I am, in a completely different realm just waiting for the promised peace to come." He finished. They sat in silence after that. The Mother absorbing all she had been told and Balance caught in his memories. It would be hours before either moved to go back to their set task and Balance wonder if this silence would become a regular occurrence if the others shared their stories as well. That all depended on if they could find them.

* * *

A soft pulse of energy from the link broke him from his thoughts. He responded with his own and followed it back. It had taken them over a year to master the amount of power they needed to use. After that they came up with a code in order to understand what the pulses meant. One pulse meant the other person wanted to meet, while two meant that they were too busy. The last signal was three pulses and it was for emergencies only. They were both quite proud of what they managed to accomplish. When Balance finally arrived where he was being pulled to, his mouth dropped in shock at the sight that greeted him.

After a decade of searching, it seemed the Mother had found another soul like them. Balance was slightly annoyed that she found another so easily. After all, it had taken him ages to find her. "Balance, allow me to introduce Heart. I ran into him while taking a walk in the woods." The woman explained and motion for him to join them. "While waiting for you I explained to him what both of us do here in this realm." Balance approached the duo and carefully observed their new companion. He physically appeared to be around the Mother's age, perhaps slightly younger. The other man had blonde hair and dark blue eyes. And, he noticed with a hint of irritation that this man was taller than him.

"Hello Balance." The other man greeted. "As the Mother said, I go by the name Heart as I am the heart of the souls." He continued with a soft chuckle. Balance gave him an inquisitive look, was the man claiming to be the Cupid of this ream? But before Heart could resume, the Mother cleared her throat and they looked at her. She gesture towards the path with her head and raised one eyebrow at both of them. Balance snorted and began walking. He had to hide a smile when she began to hum lightly, glancing back at the taller man he waited for him to go on.

"I think of myself as the heart of the souls, because I bring souls together with bonds. For instance, souls that have the same family receive a relation bond and souls that give off similar energy are given a soul bond. With that comes breaking the bonds. If the bond between souls becomes warped or twisted I sever it." He explained. "If I were to leave a twisted bond intact it could end up tainting the soul." Heart grimaced as he added that. Balance found himself agreeing with him. A tainted soul was bad news. It could give off dark energy and taint other souls around it.

"I can see that weighing someone down. We can't all be everywhere at once, so you shouldn't worry about it too much. We all have our own burdens to bear." Balance consoled him. He had ferried tainted souls before. And these were the ones that never returned from the Void of Judgement. He himself missed certain things from souls or it might be better to say neglected them. It was a few decades before he met the Mother that he grew restless. In a moment of stupidity he ignored the soul energy emitting from the Ancient Void and let it grow in power to the point that the Void started cracking. As Lord Death had tied his soul to it, he was wracked to the ground with pain. It was good thing he had the dementors. They flocked to him when they felt his agony over the bond. Unable to stand they dragged him out of the realm. And the moment he entered the Void, his powers erupted from him and began to filter out souls. He was not in control and it sent souls that he was still forging into the realm. He could feel them shatter, they didn't have enough energy to withstand the physical realm yet. The shock of of losing the developing souls and the bonds that snapped with them had him falling into unconsciousness. He doesn't know how long he was laying motionless in the Void before he woke up. The crack was gone so he assumed his powers mended it. That was the last and only time he was dismissive of his responsibilities.

* * *

He found it odd that when he was alone in this realm for so long, that he managed to make his own makeshift family. He had gain a father figure from Heart. Now, the taller man was nothing like Sirius, but he still gave off a parental feeling. Heart had to be the most compassionate soul in both realms. It was true that Balance and the Mother had been wary of him after learning his past, but who could blame them? The man had worked to help his hunt and destroy witches, werewolves, and vampires in the name of the church. While Heart was not as enthusiastic as his father, the fact remained that he did his part. He managed to gain Balance's trust after three years of them meeting, when Balance tested him by explaining his own past. It was seeing Heart cry for him and the ones who were killed by him, his father, and his father's men; that led to where they are now. Seeing this the Mother warmed up to Heart as well, feeling safe with knowledge no rifts would form between her and Balance. It was a month later, that the Mother began teaching the other man how to use the links they formed after their first meeting.

Though he tried, Balance was unable to restrain the smirk that took over his face. He watched from the sidelines as the Mother and Heart seemed to click together. Oh, he knew they were only friends, there wasn't enough time to develop anything else with how busy they were. He doubted there ever would be. Though it was hard to ignore the lingering looks and secretive smiles they shared. Seeing them like this made him think that perhaps, in another life, they would have been perfect for each other. He once asked the Mother if she would try to pursue it anyway. "If we had met under different circumstances then I certainly would have." She told him. "As it is, we just don't have the time and with our main focus on the souls, we wouldn't have the dedication to support a relationship." She continued. He conceded that she was right. Yet, he couldn't help but imagine how it would have been if all three of them had met in the other realm first instead of this one. It was impossible with the large gap between when the were born, but the thought still had him yearning for the lost opportunities.


	5. A Division of Power

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: I'm sure you've realized by now, that the next few chapters are going to be introductions of the Twilight characters. Things won't really kick off till we meet all of them. As you saw with Carlisle, I'm not giving an in depth telling of all their past. Fitting the conversions in without the story coming off as rushed and bland would be too difficult. If I figure something out later, that might change but for now, you'll get a brief overview or I'll insinuate it. Not all of them will be comfortable or trusting enough to share either. Just try to keep this in mind.**

* * *

A Division of Power

The next two souls found Heart. It seemed they weren't the only ones who had the thought that there could be more. When he received three jolts across the link he was worried. It was the first time any of them had used the emergency signal. What kind of danger lurked on the other side? It was with this thought in mind that he raced towards Heart's location. He got there only minutes after the Mother, it always took longer when journeying from the Void. They looked on in surprise at the company.

Heart gestured at them. "This is Fate and Warmth." He introduced. Just the title of the young woman had him glancing at the Mother in bewilderment. Before Balance could confirm his thoughts, Heart continued. "They received their powers form the Three Fates and the Goddess of Life respectably."

This was more than unexpected. Balance had never considered the thought that the Gods would split their powers. Heart himself was given his power from the Three Fates and Warmth seemed to share his with the Mother.

They drew closer to their companions for a more thorough examination. It was a man and a woman. The woman was physically older than him by a year or two and had black hair in a pixie cut and dark brown eyes. She was short; shorter than him, he thought with a hint of smile. The man seemed her age, however, he was taller than him and had honey blonde hair and light brown eyes.

"Greetings. I am Balance." He introduced and with a sweep of his hand towards towards the Mother continued, "This is the Mother. Her gifts were also given by the Goddess of Life." The newcomers looked surprised at this and peered thoughtfully at the woman.

It was Fate who spoke first. "I was already shocked at the similar energy Heart was giving off. He told us about you two, but I was already hesitant that one God divided their powers to accept that two would risk such a thing. And yet she does in fact exude the same energy as Warmth." She trailed off. Her associate picked up where she left off. "Fate found me. She told me she saw shadow beings that reaped souls while spinning their futures. It was this that made her journey to find others like her."

Balance took that in. He was in between feeling happy his dementors lead to other's finding them, but annoyed they weren't more discrete.

The Mother took up the explanation at seeing his distracted look. "Those are dementors. They help Balance ferry souls to the Void of Judgement." She paused before asking, "What exactly do you mean by she saw them in the souls futures?"

The pixie giggled. "Heart gave us a rather good overview of how your powers work." She smiled at the Mother's slight embarrassment. "Anyway, I guess you could say that once souls leave the womb I see visions of all their possible futures right up until they are severed from the realm." She made an elaborate hand gesture for no apparent reason. Balance decided that he liked her, if only for that one moment right then.

"With this I weave the best fate for them. While a soul can stray from it's destiny; it can never truly out run it." She turned towards Warmth and gesture for him to share his own purpose within the realm.

The man rolled his eyes at her liveliness and their curious gazes and answered the unasked question. "I glimpse into the soul's fates and personalities and gift them emotions based on that. Depending on those; they will feel strongly about some things and less about other's." He finished.

That was interesting and all, but it didn't solve any of Balance's initial questions. Just what were the Three Fates and the Goddess of Life playing at? Why would they split their powers? Just how many of them where there? And the most important of all, did Death do the same? This was something that desperately needed to be looked into. They had Heart form the links, figuring he'd be the best at it and went their separate ways for now.

* * *

Over the next few years Balance wasn't sure if he was pleased with meeting Fate or if he regretted it.

The pixie had somehow managed to follow the link back into the Ancient Void on her own. It was remarkable since he had believed he needed to drag the others there personally. And while this was an outstanding discovery, Fate had taken a liking to the Void more than the realm since she didn't have to personally visit the souls like the other's.

He found it amusing when she first set up base there. After all, it was nice to have company. Though he found her energy somewhat overwhelming as the woman was constantly talking and bouncing around surveying the suspended souls. He wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't so distracting. The number of new souls he messed up was immeasurable. As it was, he was tuning her out and using his powers to resolve his newest mistake. Or he was trying to at least. With a sigh he withdrew his powers and turned to cut her off.

"What do you miss most from the other realm?" He question her softly, believing it a safe enough topic.

She looked shocked at the end of her one way conversation before grinning at him. "Nothing." The wizard gave her a look of disbelief. "I'm serious. There is nothing for me to miss." Fate went on.

"You see, the dormant power that the Three Fates gifted me somehow leaked and a small portion awoke before the Void of Judgement. Because of this I received visions of the people around me." She paused and stepped back almost as if she was trying to detach herself from her memories.

"They weren't always accurate since the gift only showed me possibilities. My family kept it quiet and they often dismissed my warnings." Her voice became soft. "It lead to my stay in an asylum. The treatments they gave me were torture."

And suddenly she grinned, Balance was never going to understand her random mood swings. "But there was one worker who I came to see as a father. He believed my visions were the real deal and when I had a vision of a mad man wrecking havoc on the asylum the two of us escaped together." She gave a heartfelt sigh. "We weren't fast enough and he sacrificed himself to buy me some time."

For the first time Balance watched as a negative emotion flitted across her face, pain. "In my panic, I ran into the road without checking for traffic." The woman shrugged in a 'what can you do' sort of way. "The asylum was pretty secluded so I didn't deem it necessary to check for traffic. It's ironic that even with my visions I never saw the car coming."

Balance gave a dark chuckle, "I have to wonder if Warmth's past is tragic as well. If this is the Gods way of giving all of us a second chance then I am anything but amused."

She gave him a look and he gave her a shorten version of his own past and a brief overview of Heart's and Mother's. Fate's expression matched his own by the end of it.

"Warmth joined the army when he was seventeen. He became a major two years later. It was while helping evacuate the women and children that he met Maria. He fell in love with her, but their relationship was short lived as Maria betrayed him one night and shot him. When he awoke next he was in the Void." Fate summed up.

When the silence surged, he found himself laughing uncontrollably. The pixie looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. That thought just set him of more. She would know, wouldn't she? It took several minutes for him to calm down and explain. "I couldn't help myself, sorry. It's just that silence always seems to be the response when any of us share our past." Fate snorted humorlessly and turned her head, though Balance caught the small smile that graced her lips.

They talked aimlessly for a while after that, before he begged for a few hours of silence to work. She laughed and told him she'd go bug Warmth for a bit, "But don't you dare start thinking you can run me off so easily." Fate told him sternly. The man shook his head with a chuckle and when her presence faded and he once more took up the task of soul forging.

Defiantly pleased then. It seemed as if he had gained something of a sister in the other woman. Only time would tell if the wizard would include Warmth in that.

* * *

Balance very rarely left the Ancient Void except to meet with the others. Occasionally they would visit him through the link but besides Fate, the rest were uncomfortable with the anchored feeling the Void gave them.

Fate always laughed at their initial disgruntled expression, not that he was any better at hiding his own amusement. "I like the feeling. It makes me feel like a normal mortal again." Fate once told him.

Balance found that odd with the way time seemed to warp around them. It was like they were on a different plane than the anchored souls. While he didn't understand it, it did make sense. If things weren't like that, then the realm would have had lots of stillborn children that time he ignored his responsibilities.

It wasn't just him though. With how quickly time passed in the realm, none of them would be able to complete their jobs without this phenomenon. In the end, he supposed, it was the little things like the pressure of the Void that she found comfort in. They all found it in their own way so he was happy for her.

It was time for one of their annual meetings and the two of them were going to follow the link to Heart when Warmth sent them three jolts of energy. A brief glace at each other and they were off.

Upon entering the realm, Balance found himself in the middle of a raging storm. He was too busy trying to make out their surroundings to notice the four figures up ahead. Fate wasn't so distracted and grabbing his arm the woman dragged him to their odd little family, resulting in breaking him from his observations.

He could feel an unfamiliar energy, though he couldn't make out the new soul through the torrent rain. "Perhaps we should move somewhere a bit calmer." A voice shouted out, barely decipherable though he recognized it as the Mother. "Why should we? I love storms." Another voice answered. This one had to be the new soul.

With an annoyed huff he reached out towards the energy and grabbed their new comrades arm. With this he dragged them into the Ancient Void and sent a pulse for the others to follow.

A sudden wack to his head and a yank from his arm had him letting go. They were shrieking at him, whoever they were. But he was a bit too busy being disoriented to make out any of the words. Though he did catch a few familiar voices trying to calm them down before he could resort himself.

"You didn't have to hit me. I'm sorry, but I could barely make out anything you were saying in that rain. I wasn't aiming to upset you." Balance apologized looking up.

Another woman. She had pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She scowled at him. "I'm not apologizing for hitting you. If you had thought before you acted then I wouldn't have needed to." She spat out as her eyes filled with mistrust. Balance gaped at her. What in the hell was her problem. Her statement was met with silence and as the rest moved to give her a wide berth, her expression twisted even more. Balance had a sinking feeling that none of them would get along well with their new 'friend'.


	6. Chaos And Her Contrast

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: As pleased as I am with this chapter, I'm much more excited for the next. Finally, things are going to start kicking off.**

* * *

Chaos And Her Contrast

It took a while to get anything out of the woman. She reminded Balance of how he was with the war in the other realm. So suspicious, so mistrusting. Eventually, after they all had told her about themselves, the blonde haired woman finally divulged the smallest amount of information, just her name and the God who gave her her gifts. "I'm Chaos and the Goddess of Destruction gave me a portion of her powers." She informed them, a slight sneer on her face.

"So you cause chaos for the realm then?" Heart questioned, trying to get more out of her.

A blank look and sarcastic remark was her response, "Weren't you listening? I call myself Chaos and the Goddess of Destruction gave me my gift. What the hell else did you think I did?" She grimaced, "What, did you think I painted rainbows and sprouted miracles out my ass for the souls?" The woman turned her nose up at the thought and gave a derisive snort. Balance was starting have flash backs to his Hogwarts days; with that pale blonde hair, the light blue eyes, and snotty attitude; well he was practically staring at Malfoy's female counterpart. Great.

It took them even longer to convince her that forming the link would be beneficial for all of them. Chaos was adamant she didn't need it, telling them she was there to help her Goddess and nothing more. The woman was quite firm in her belief that she didn't need them. Fate, bless her, had volunteered to be the one to show her how it worked. Balance gave a sigh of relief at hearing that and he wasn't the only one either. They were six now and the man hoped that if there were more of them that they wouldn't share her temperament.

* * *

It irked him every time they held their meetings now. It wasn't Chaos's presence that bothered him, it was the lack of it. Balance just couldn't understand why she hated them so much. They were all in the same situation and if there was anyone for her to be resentful at then it should be the Gods. They were the reason they were in this mess, not her fellow souls.

And it wasn't like he didn't try to understand either. He followed the link to her and he tried, really he did. But the woman was impossible and he grew tired of the mocking comments. The man sighed and glanced at Fate. She hadn't given up on Chaos yet. But with amount of tuning out he did to her before the wizard wasn't really that surprised. The man would find himself anxious when ever he studied the blonde too closely. He could see the pain in her eyes and it had him itching to help.

Being an enhanced soul like he was, he couldn't effect anchored souls. Balance was forced to watch on the side lines as they destroyed and hurt each other. That was his least favorite thing about his new existence, though he didn't really like any of it. It was the soldier in him talking. He was always in the center of the conflict back in the other real and the man saw an identical reaction in his comrade.

Warmth had taken a similar approached to him, choosing to aid their new companion. Most likely to stem the guilt he felt at being unable to help the souls. Balance could certainly relate. The other war veteran still went with Fate occasionally, though his unenthusiastic face when he returned always showed that he never made any progress.

In the end, she opened up. Not to any of them though. The green eyed man couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed by that. He was much too relieved that she was talking to someone. The wizard found it ironic considering how much they differed, though he supposed that's what made them compatible. Two sides to the same coin and all that rubbish.

Balance found her much more manageable with Strength around. Fate had come across him while essentially stalking Chaos in the realm. She used the link to find where Chaos was and when she appeared the blond would disappear. An endless cycle would ensue which was a regular occurrence by this point. Then she miscalculated and went to far. Basically the pixie stumbled right into the large man. When Fate had first sent them the three pulses, Balance's first thought was that Chaos had finally snapped and tried to kill her. Luckily he was wrong.

* * *

Balance found himself surprised when he first appeared in the realm. He was greeted not with Fate fighting for her life as he first expected, but instead rambling to a broad man with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. The taller man was looking at the pixie in amusement; booming laughter ringing out at some of her questions. He found himself even more shocked when after his arrival, Chaos showed up. She was grumbling under her breath, but Balance was please to know she would come at the sign of an emergency. It looked like she cared more then she'd like to admit.

"Fate, let the man breath." Warmth sighed in exasperation and moved forward to drag her away from the other man to give him some space. She wined at him in annoyance, but settled down as much as she could.

"I was playing tag with Chaos again," The aforementioned woman sent Fate a steely glare at that and the pixie either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. "When I overestimated her location and encounter Strength." She beaming at them.

The man in questioned laughed. "I was shocked when she bumbled out of thin air." He grinned at them. "Before I could get excited at seeing another gifted soul, the little midget is bouncing up to me and sprouting off about calling the other's." Strength shook his head. "I was so amazed at the fact that there were other's that, for a moment all I could do was gape. And the next thing I know she starts to babble nonsense at me." His grin grew, "Please tell me the rest of you are this interesting."

Balance barked out a laugh. Oh, he liked this one. "Fate talks rather fast so who knows if you caught anything she said. I assume she told you about us. But if you need us to explain, don't worry about hurting her feelings." The wizard smirked at the pouting girl. "Fate has a tendency to brush off everything and go around oblivious to the world around her. It's rather ironic since she's called Fate."

Strength shook his head. "No thanks, I know I can be thick sometimes but I'm sure it will all sink in eventually." The broad man smirked back at Balance. "I promise I won't interrogate any of you till after that." Balance watched a warm smile spread across his companions faces. The green eyed man felt relieved that this was going so much better than with Chaos.

"Anyway, as the shorty said, I go by Strength. The God of Order or Peace or whatever awoke me in the Void of Judgement. He has many names and I was never able to figured out which one he liked the best." Strength glance at the only blonde female and smirked. "I hope our power's nature doesn't conflict too much." He told her. "I give souls the willpower to keep going and balance out Chaos's influence over the realm. The ups always come after the downs as they say." He continued as his eyes swept over them. "For every storm there is a few enhanced shelters. For every sin there is a miracle. Y'know, things like that." Strength looked back over at Chaos and grinned mischievously. "My favorite thing to do, however, is shoot rainbows out of my ass."

Balance had to try very hard not laugh at that. The others weren't fairing much better. He glanced at Fate, just how much had she'd told him? And the look Chaos was giving her. The pixie better disappear soon least Chaos lose control completely and actually kill her.

The laugh shot out of him anyway with Strength next statement. "I'll give you props for getting close Chaos." Strength sighed dramatically, "It's a shame too since you were almost right. I would've given you a prize or something if you guessed it outright."

Balance lunged forward at the same time as Chaos and grabbed him before she could. He dragged him down to the Void since he figured it would be best to let her calm down for a bit, before they reconvene to work out the link.

The wizard couldn't help but wonder if that was why she let Strength in. The broad man never tried to help her but instead found amusement in bantering with her. It did wonders. Chaos started coming to the meetings and Balance even caught her smiling a few times. Perhaps the woman wasn't so bad after all. They had even had a civil conversation at one point. It didn't make them best friends or anything, but it was still nice.

With Strength now with them, Balance was sure this was finally the last of them. When he first enter the Judgement Void and learned of what was to come, he'd felt broken. Now though, a light smile graced his lips as he looked around the clearing at his completed family. Finally, things were looking up.


	7. Ascending Existence

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: Guys, I have just realized that judgement is actually spelled judgment. Gees, I'm glad I decided to do a final edit once this is complete, because the amount of times I've used that word. Ugh, thanks a lot spellcheck. Also, I lost the data for this chapter and had to rewrite it, that was infuriating. To think I had been so excited for this and now I'm just miserable. In the end I suppose it turned out for the better, the flow of this chapter is much better than before.**

Tempest S **: Why don't you keep reading and find out. Most of the time I'll write chapters in bulk. I have all the way up to chapter ten done. I promise that everything will become clear eventually if you can be patient. I'm trying to be mysterious here guys.**

Lois **: First, this story does not have pairings at this point in time, I'm sorry. Also, I want to address this whole Balance is Chaos's counterpart thing. Balance only ferries and forges souls. Doing so keeps the Ancient Void and the realm in balance. Another reason I named Harry Balance instead of Death is because I don't see him as the end all for the realm. That was how he saw himself until he realized there were others. Meanwhile at this point in time, all we know about Chaos is that she causes chaos for the realm. We don't have any details yet. Strength however, I would have named peace but I stuck with Strength as homage to Emmett being the strongest in the Olympic Coven. What we know about Strength is that he gives souls willpower as well as miracles. Basically he brings peace to the realm, the opposite of Chaos.**

 **Please let me know if that is not clear enough and I will change Balance's name to something else. It won't be Death though. It will probably be a play on reincarnation. Anyway, as always I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Ascending Existence

It should't have surprised him so much. Why he had never thought of it before, he would never know. Not once did it cross his mind that the God of Judgment would enhance a soul like the other Gods. He could only guess that it was because he was judged by Death instead. Balance had never thought to look in the Ancient Void for his brethren. The man had always assumed that he was the only one to visit there. That thought only strengthened after meeting the Mother as she had never heard of it before. And from what the others told him; they had all reappeared in the realm after awakening, he himself had first appeared in the Ancient Void. Going on that logic, it would make sense that the soul enhanced by the God of Judgment would stay in the Void of Judgment once reawakened. How they had missed each other so often, he had no clue or maybe they had unknowingly ignored each others presence; both believing no one else to be there in the Void.

Which was why he was so astonished now. Balance had just returned from one of their regular meetings; after they all agreed Warmth would call the next and he had returned alone; since Fate once again decided to follow Chaos around afterwards, to find an unexpected guest. He must have made some sort of noise as the other whirled around in surprise. The two men gawked at each other, taking the other in with the low light the Ancient Void provided. The other man had dark brown hair, maybe black, it was hard to discern with the distance. Balance walked closer to better study their new comrade. Defiantly brown or perhaps more of a bronze color; their physical age seemed the closest as well. The other soul had dark green eyes, though that could have been because of the lighting. Balance was startled out of his inspections when the other whispered.

"You're like me, aren't you?" He questioned, eyes still wide and voice filled with awe. Balance nodded and spoke up before the other green eyed man could continued. As he did, he sent three pulses of energy along the link. "I am and there are others as well."

The old wizard went on to give the other man a brief review of his powers and purpose for the realm, along with an overlook on the other six. "We formed a type of link in order to stay in contact." He explained. "I've called them all here and they should arrive soon. Though it takes longer to travel to and from the Ancient Void than just around the realm." Balance concluded, he opened his mouth to question the other on who they were, when he was cut off.

"Is that what you call this place?" The new soul questioned. Balance nodded and tried to question him again, yet he was interrupted once more. "Wait, you make it sound as if you've been to the new realm before. What's it like? I haven't had the opportunity to go yet." The newcomer questioned him excitedly. Before Balance could respond, they were delayed by the arrival of his comrades.

"Just what the hell is so important that you forgot to mention it at the meeting?" Chaos hissed out. An intake of breath from Fate had her and the others peering around in inquiry. Upon noticing the two of them, their expressions changed to match Fate's. Balance had to hide a smile at the flabbergasted looks he received and motioned them closer.

He went on to point out who was who to their new friend, before turning to face him. "The question is, who are you?" He asked, gazing in query at the still unknown man. The aforementioned soul's expression shifted from amazed to sheepish.

"Ah sorry, I guess I got too excited by what you were telling me." He explained awkwardly. "I took up the name Judgment in honor of the God that gifted me." The man shrugged and tacked on under his breath, "Also, because I couldn't think of anything better." The taller man; Balance notices this with a grumble in his head; straightened up and resumed speaking.

"I can see the soul's life from when they were anchored, how they thought during important events, and what action they took." He pauses, thinking of a better way to explain it. "Young souls are returned to the," He trails off and looks towards Balance for conformation. "Ancient Void?" He questions. At seeing the other man's nod, he picks up where he left off. "Right, so young souls are returned to the Ancient Void immediately. While souls with good morals that reflect their mostly good behavior in life are return just as quick." The newcomer cuts off to glance at them, presumably to make sure his audience is still following. The man nods to himself when he's met with no confusion. "Souls with darker memories and that have made disturbing decisions in life have to, I suppose, repent their 'sins' in a way, before they can be returned." He elucidates. "Tainted souls are destroyed upon entry into the Void of Judgment, before they even awaken. Otherwise they would feed off the other's energies. Which results in inconsistencies within their memories." The man adopts a sour expression as he finishes his explanation.

As the rest of them take in this new information the Mother offers to escort Judgment to the realm so he can glimpse the differences it has from the original himself. With them in the realm, the others start up a discussion about the odds of Judgment truly being the last of them.

"It makes sense." Heart offers, Warmth and Chaos appear hesitant to agree. "What else would the realm need?" He continues. "With Balance in the Ancient Void, Judgment in the Void of Judgment, and us in the realm; it gives off the impression of a complete and working system." The compassionate man explained.

Strength seemed to mostly agree with him, nodding along as Heart spoke. "Though we are unaware of just how many Gods the other realm holds nor the full extent of their abilities." The broad man tacked on with a small measure of skepticism.

Fate glanced at Balance and their eyes held a silent conversation. "We need to account for the fact that some of the Gods split up their powers." She joined in. The wizard made a noise of agreement.

"Not to mention the possibility that not all the Gods decided to use souls to help maintain this realm. They could very well have a foot in both realms and forwent any aid." Balance added on. "There's also a chance that there are souls within the first realm have yet to have their powers awaken. It's possible they could still be tied to the physical realm." He further voiced. With that thought most of their expression turned wary or inquisitive.

The conversation grew more in depth, only ceasing upon the return of the Mother and Judgment. Heart took over and reshaped the link to include Judgment and the moment the loud crack sounded, Balance had a sudden strange foreboding feeling. For some reason it felt like something new was coming into motion and his instinct told him that whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it.

* * *

As always, they went there separate ways afterwards with the agreement that Warmth would call the next meeting; as planned before. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary besides Judgment sticking around to talk whenever he delivered the souls back to the Ancient Void. In fact, Balance began to doubt his initial reaction from the expanded link.

Why he ever gave up on the two words constantly shouted at him during the war, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"; he would forever regret; when Warmth called them to the meeting in the realm. He supposed it might have been both him and Judgment being in the realm at the same time or maybe it was because they were all meeting there and they really were the only enhanced souls in this realm at the time; that it happened.

Fate, Judgment, and him all left at the same time yet none of them reached their destination. Instead, upon entering the realm they all collapsed. Balance screamed at the onslaught of power surging through him, vaguely aware of his two companions reacting the same way.

He could feel his soul expanding; changing and forming into something new. His soul warped and altered to the point that it couldn't be called a soul any longer. It was seemingly nothing more than a core similar to what contained his magic before the Void of Judgment.

The link they all shared strengthened and this confirmed the distant thought of whether the others not here were sharing the experience. It felt like the transformation took days, months, years even; and as the pain slowly drew away the old wizard and Judgment cried out as their connections to the Voids severed and transfigured into something different. Anchoring them to something new but comparable. It was as if the Ancient Void had split in two.

His body aching and his entire existence altered, Balance stood up, disbelief and fear etched on his face. The connection to the Void of Judgment was gone, severed, and somehow the realm had ascended them into God status. Was there a way for them to fix this? Could they even connect the two Voids back together? His eyes glazed over as question after question went unanswered and new ones took their places. Since when was this realm sentient? When did it gain the power to force them into Gods? It made no sense, Gods' were born not created. Unless this was akin to rebirth in a way. That could be true, since he no longer held a soul but something greater, something more. The man sneered at the sound of that, he didn't want it. And worst of all, he thought with horror, did this mean he would never receive the peace Lord Death promised him?

It was with a bitter taste that the fleeting thought of his horrible luck following him into the realm, struck him. What was supposed to be more of a casual get together had just transformed into a meeting of the Gods. As Balance moved over to help Fate stand up, he could only hope that with their new power they could somehow reconnect the Voids. Otherwise he had more than enough rage to stand back and watch this realm burn.

* * *

 **ALTERNATIVE SCENE** : Balance and Judgment recognize each other.

"Cedric." He breathed out. Till now, Balance had never met any of the other souls before this realm. "I can't believe this." The old wizard gazed on, drinking in the sight of dark brown hair and fathomless grey eyes. For a moment, the man thought he was having a waking dream. Was this some strange nightmare to remind him of one of the deaths he had caused? It had to be. Balance hadn't thought about the Hufflepuff or tournament since Ginny finally sat him down and knocked it into him that it wasn't his fault. But then his nightmare spoke and reality came crashing down.

"Harry? What, how?" The other trailed off with an identical look of shock. And then the badger was moving forward and sweeping the shorter into a tight hug. "I tried to watch out for you after I died, but my job was in a different realm and soon after my death I was too busy to. How did it end? Did we win the war?" He questioned pulling away.

Balance couldn't even look at him. He tried to contain his emotions but his guilt and grief overcame him. Soon his body was trembling and he was unable to mask his sobs. The Hufflepuff took that the wrong way, "We lost. Merlin, my parents, what happened to them? And Hogwarts and." The other man falter when the Griffindor let out a wet laugh. It had been a long time since he heard the use of Merlin's name in such a way.

Balance shook his head, "No we won, Voldemort died for good in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998. But none of that matters!" He shouted out sounding hysterical. "Why are you acting like this? You should hate me! I got you killed! It was my fault, if I hadn't," Balance chocked off as he was dragged into another embrace.

The arms around him felt surreal. "What kind of nonsense is that? How could you ever believe it was your fault I died?!" Cedric demanded, his tone disbelieving and outraged. "You didn't force me to grab the cup, Harry. I did that of my own free will. It was unfortunate yes, but I could never hate you when you were just as caught off guard by that portkey as I."

The other man took a deep breath and whispered soothingly to his underclassman. When Balance had control of himself, he disentangled from the arms wrapped around him.

The Griffindor didn't know how long they stood there discussing what fate had brought to their old realm. Balance told him everything. He didn't bother glossing over things like he did with the other enhanced souls. And then it was Cedric's turn, or Judgment's as he soon found out. The badger explain what his life had become after meeting the God of Judgment. Once that was over with, Balance described his own existence in the new realm and told him of the other's he had met and how he really should call them soon.

When he finally got around to doing just that, Balance was slightly annoyed at his old friends excitement to meet the other's. He had only just gotten him back; the first of many of his loved ones to be reunited with and it would be a long time till he saw his other's. It had him feeling a minor bit of possessiveness. The thought that his only connection in the other realm would become closer to the other six more than him, was frustrating. That didn't stop the relief he felt at knowing Cedric's views on his own death. The lack of guilt was uplifting and he wanted to hold onto this moment for as long as possible. In the end, he could only postpone for so long.

The two former Hogwarts students chatted aimlessly whilst they waited for the new arrivals to appear.

* * *

 **Second Author's Note: I just couldn't resist, sorry. Anyway, about the different descriptions. I've been using the character wiki's for Twilight to figure out their human eye colors and I usually use the book version. I've been doing the same thing to brush up on Harry's side (also Cedric's though just for this small insert). Thought I'd throw that out there now if any of you were curious.**


	8. Their Broken Realm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: This is my longest chapter yet. I thought about breaking it up, but it all kind of goes together and it took what seems like forever to finish it. Also, I feel as if it comes off as rushed. Not sure though, so tell me what you think since I could really use the extra input.**

Dominique Icefall **: Edward is Judgment. Cedric was just a bonus alternative scene. The definition of alternative is a different possibility or a different outcome that 'could' occur. It was just a brief view on what might have happened if I had used Cedric instead of Edward, not have them as the same person. Basically if I had taken out Edward all together, but I didn't want to do that. Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse anyone. I just couldn't help but wonder how things would end if I had gone that root myself. So the scene is just an extra, nothing more.**

* * *

Their Broken Realm

There was no time to rest, nor to stretch out their altered power. The moment he and Fate helped Judgment up, they were gone, rocketing in Warmth's direction. It was easier and faster than before, Balance noticed. When they finally arrived, the three quickly joined Heart and Strength in helping the other's stand. It was only when everyone appeared to regain their equilibrium, that Judgment spoke, his eyes focused on Balance. "You felt it too, didn't you?" His voice came out fearful which gained the new Gods' attention immediately. Balance looked away from him, worry etched on his own face. He wasn't sure how to respond. Chaos however did apparently.

"Of course he did! We all did or have you gone blind?!" The woman yelled out. Judgment would have taken offence if her eyes weren't full of terror and her voice was less unsettled. As it was, he knew she was just lashing out. Balance ignored her and gaining his voice spoke up before the rest could add their own comments. They needed to remain calm right now, panicking would get them nowhere.

"That's not what he was asking." He stated drawing attention to himself, "He was asking if I felt the chain that connected the Ancient Void to the Void of Judgment snap as well." Here he paused and turned towards Judgment, oblivious to the growing horror on his companion's faces. "I did. I also felt the Ancient Void expand and split in two." Balance trailed off.

Fate picked up where he left off with apprehension. "You both could have been mistaken." She said with false hope coloring her tone. The two grim looks she received in response crushed that.

Warmth stepped forward in the following silence, "Take us to the Void then. We need to see this for ourselves." He glanced at their newest addition. "Perhaps once there Judgment can seek out the channel to the Void of Judgment to confirm it's loss.".

Balance nodded in agreement before stating, "We'll both take one. The rest should try to use the link to cross into it like before, it's more solid and powerful now. Besides we need to test if any of you can still use it to travel to the Ancient Void."

The other Gods' remained silent to show their acceptance and Fate approached Balance, silently telling them he would take her with Heart doing the same to Judgment. Both Void dwellers took one last look at the rest of their comrades before grabbing the arm of their passenger. The other's watched as both vanished in smoke.

The four reappeared in the Void, the trip taking no time at all and with a pulse of energy down the link their fellow Gods joined them.

Balance stepped forward and surveyed the changes to the Void. In the center where they stood was what he remembered, yet slightly larger. The souls still floating as he had left them.

It was the recognizable surroundings that distressed him, enclosing his place of dwelling was an all too familiar sight. As the soft glow from the souls dwindled off, it was met with darkness. The emptiness gave off the same energy as the Void of Judgment.

The old wizard glanced behind him to see the other's reactions. Later, when they weren't so concerned with the meaning of the new darkness, it would be named the Judgment Hall and the perimeter it encased would gain the title of the Revival Circle, together they made up the Ancient Void.

"For our peace of mind, try to find the tunnel you traveled through that connected the Voids." Heart's voice pierced through the silence.

All of their attention fixated on Judgment as he nodded closing his eyes. His energy seeped out and expanded, shifting around and grazing the boundary of the changed Void. The rest waited, watching and hoping; even Balance who knew it was a wasted effort. Still he was disappointed just as much as the other's when Judgment's powers returned and he shook his head in a silent signal of finding nothing.

With that, the Gods reconvened together and Chaos raged out in anxiety. "If we can't somehow reconnect to the Void of Judgment, then you can guarantee I will sit back and watch this realm die." She stated firmly.

Balance nodded along with her and gave his own support, "I'm with Chaos on this. I'm more than happy to watch the realm burn. This is not apart of what Lord Death assigned to me. I had no intention or want to become a God."

Heart frowned at them. "I understand your anger, but tell me this. What will become of us if the realm ceases to exist? There is no place for our souls to return to and even if there was, we no longer hold souls to begin with." He explained making his comrades falter. "I've worked on a theory since my arrival in this realm. The odds of the Ancient Void restarting the realm to avoid the destruction overflowing souls would cause, is high. What then? If this realm is reborn nothing changes." The man finished.

Balance grimaced at the thought, it brought him back to his own theory. "You're right." He said sourly. "Lord Death once spoke of there being another soul before me, the one other he had judged before. I believe this soul ended with the death of this realm and had to recover in the Void from the original." He told them. "I came up with the idea that Lord Death created a second enhanced soul when the first took longer than he assumed to recover. The only reason this has any credence is the fact that this realm was well developed upon my arrival, yet still managed to survive without my influence."

Fate cut him off, "You think the God of Death was in control of both realms until you arrived, only then handing over his responsibilities." Balance nodded and let that sink in to the other's. Chaos did not look pleased and he was feeling much the same.

"Some of us need to leave soon." The Mother spoke up. "We only aided the Gods and now with them not here, there is a lot more ground for us to cover." Fate hummed in agreement.

"She's right. I no longer am able to be away from the realm and deliver the soul's fates. The Three Fates assisted me much more than I thought and I don't have your dementors for help." She gestured at Balance.

The mention of the dementors had the Mother speaking up once more, "Balance, you forge souls and Chaos you generate storms and create diseases; is it at all possible for either of you to teach me the ways of creation, so I can make something similar to the dementors to aid me?" She questioned. The Gods perked up at the possibility, having that would counter effect the loss of the original Gods.

"It's possible with our new status. The problem is finding a safe area to teach you. We don't know what sort of backlash a mistake could cause to the realm." Chaos stated. She turned in Judgment and Balance's direction. "If either of you could create an extension to the Void then that would be the best place to teach them."

Balance looked away, thinking, "We can try. The Ancient Void has cracked before and my energy was able to mend it. It is certainly likely that we can influence it. Though you'll have to give us time." He explained.

Already the old wizard was comparing his magical core with the new one he had gained. If he could teach Judgment the method of magic then perhaps they could manipulate their new powers to conform. From what he recalled; disregarding the spells and different branches of magic; magic was all about intention. Not to mention their new status as Gods. With that the other Gods left and the two to began theorizing.

* * *

Balance gave Judgment a swift overview of his mortal life as a wizard and his theory of using the same basic principle to transfigure a doorway of some kind. Judgment made a sound of agreement before telling him he would study Balance's energy and attempt to emulate the outcome, that was of course if the wizard could pull it off.

The two agreed to start their project on the edge of Balance's domain and work to shift Judgment's around it. They were hoping the final product would be an opening into an antechamber enclosed by the surrounding darkness. As he began manipulating his energy, Balance sorted through what he'd just learned.

This realm held new Gods different from the originals. While Chaos, Judgment, Strength, and himself had identical powers as the ones who gifted them; the other four had powers that were split from the old Gods, creating new Gods altogether.

Instead of using the name God of Death, Balance figured he's stick with his own and become the God of Balance. So caught up in his thoughts, Balance was unaware of his fellow God accomplishing his goal to mimic him until he spoke. "This is easier than I thought it'd be."

The wizard blinked, realizing for the first time that his energy had managed to begin warping the Void into an archway and saw Judgment's doing the same. "We are dozens of times more powerful than before. Do not forget we are Gods now, not souls. While we may specialize in certain areas, all of us are capable of much more." He replied. Judgment made a considering sound before he left Balance to his thoughts.

The wizard's attention turned back onto the next God or should he say Goddess. He supposed she would adopt the title, Goddess of Destruction. He wasn't sure what with them not being all that close. The man consider this before bringing Judgment in on his thoughts, even though the other knew her less than any of them, Balance needed a second opinion.

Judgment listened as he spoke before agreeing that it was the most likely outcome. The other man went ahead and decided his own title while he was at it, "What else am I, but a God who judges. I'll do the same as Chaos will." He told him.

They both were lost when it came to Strength though, the broad man wasn't even sure what to call the God that gifted him, how the hell were they supposed to predict that outcome. Balance shrugged before bringing up the Mother. "I was thinking she could call herself the Breath of Life." He suggested.

The other God made a face at that, "No, it's more likely she'll be the Goddess of Life." Judgment retorted.

As the two argued their sides, a space opened up and solidified through the now formed arch, creating a room the size of a bedroom in a two story house. "If the Mother is the Goddess of Life then does that make Warmth the God of Life?" Balance mocked questioningly. This made Judgment pause before he sighed.

"You're right, having a Goddess of Life and a God of Life would be too confusing, especially since they both do different thing." The man conceded. "But if the Mother is the Breath of Life then Warmth is the God of Sensation." Judgment continued resentfully. Balance thought that was a lame title, but all he could come up with was the God of Emotion, which was worse.

They paused their discussion in favor of journeying into the newly created space. A dim glow leaking in from the souls outside provided minimal lighting.

It was exactly what they had been going for. With the dark floor that spread throughout the whole Void giving off the impression of floating and the rounded ceiling from the Judgment Hall above.

"What about the Three Fates then?" Balance questioned, "We could call them the Two Fates instead." He chuckled. The man was still hung up on the fact that both Fate and Heart told him the Three Fates were one entity, he figured at least the tweaked name would make sense now.

Judgment did not find that funny if the look on his face was any indication. In fact he seemed to outright hate it. "That's ridiculous, it'd make more sense to have Heart as the God of Love and Fate as the Goddess of Destiny." Judgment pointed out. Balance had to shrug at that, the other man wasn't wrong.

Satisfied with that, the two turned to touch up a few areas here and there in the new room. It wasn't perfect but they could always fix it up later, for now it was enough.

Balance sent a jolt along the link for the others to come, so they could gain their approval. He smiled at the quick appearance, perhaps the one good thing about them being Gods now.

Judgment smirked at them before waving his arm in a gesture that clearly meant 'after you'. None of them moved to enter.

"Thank goodness. We weren't sure if either of you would ever wake up." The Mother breathed out in relief. She swiftly move in front of Balance and swept him into a hug, only to repeat the process with Judgment.

The old wizard gave her a bizarre look. "What are you talking about? We've been working the entire time besides we don't need sleep, not even when we were souls." He responded.

Fate walked towards them, eyes widening, "You don't remember." She stated in wonder, her mouth quirked to the side as she looked back and forth at both of them, her expression set as if she had never seen them before. "It's been months, Balance. All of us got worried when neither of you arrived for the meeting." She paused. "It was the strangest thing. We came across the two of you creating a doorway. Heart tried to get your attention but it didn't work."

Judgment gave them all a look as if they'd lost it. "That's impossible." He looked at Balance silently asking if this was supposed to be a joke. "Balance and I had a full on conversation while we worked, the odds of none of you hearing it if you checked on us often, isn't possible." The God of Judgment pointed out.

Chaos snorted before giving him a deadpanned look, "I have in fact adopted the title, Goddess of Destruction." Her statement caused Balance mouth to drop open, before he could accuse them of eavesdropping and flat out lying to them, the woman continued. "You two somehow managed to broadcast your conversation to us. This happened a few days after we noticed you two were in some kind of trance."

The Mother fretting as always, picked up were she left off, "Nothing we did worked. It was like you two were so focused on creating that room, that both of your energies synchronized and the link widened so you could communicate. Yet some how it kept the rest of us out."

Strength nodded and added, "We've been trying to replicate it to get in touch with both of you since we have a rather big disaster on our hands. Heart believes that with enough knowledge from you two and practice, we can potentially recreate the event, maybe even send small messages to each other."

With that overload of information, Balance decided to focus on the most important thing he picked up. "Disaster?" The wizard questioned.

Fate nodded, finally moving into the new space, "Yes, the realm is declining. We know it always has been, but the rate it's accelerated is unusual. It's slow enough that the souls won't notice anything different, but unless we do something the realm will die long before it's meant too." The pixie nodded at the Mother, "We've been discussing it since we first noticed. The Mother has a pretty solid theory as to why this is occurring."

The older woman sent her a soft smile before explaining. "We're missing a God, the one that kept the realm whole." She gave them both a serious look. "This God would have been the thread to the realm and would have breathed life into the land." The Mother paused to gesture between the rest of them. "All of us deal solely with the souls with only Chaos and Strength having minor influences on the realm."

Judgment gained a considering look when she finished speaking. "You're speaking of the being we called Mother Nature in the first ream." He stated.

"Precisely." Heart confirmed. "We'll never be able to focus on reconnecting the Voids with the realm falling. Not only do we not have the time yet, but we need to grow accustomed to our expanded abilities. On top of that we need a new God, one that focuses purely on the realm. If we want to figure out a way to join the Voids we need to accomplish this first and we need a solution fast." The man lectured.

Balance wasn't sure how to feel about that. They had only just become Gods and the others already wanted to create more. Gods were born not created, how many times was that going to slip their mind. The God of Balance didn't like it, not one bit. But really, what choice did they have? With the new addition to the Void, his main priority was freeing up the time of his fellow Gods. They needed to begin their creation lessons soon. Only then would he truly start researching different methods to create, not a God, but perhaps his own enhanced soul.

In an effort to break the tension Fate spoke up. "By the way Balance, Judgment." She nodded in their direction. "We've already decided this new room will be called the Chamber of the Gods."

Balance snorted. "Shut up, I'll have you know it was a mutual decision. Besides the two of you decided our titles without our input." She continued, peeking out of said 'chamber'.

"Not mine." Strength grinned. "I chose the God of Peace. I figured I might as well keep it simple and all that." The man boomed out a laugh and disappeared. The other Gods soon followed till once more only Balance and Judgment remained.

* * *

The first lesson began the next week as well as the first official use of the Chamber. Chaos thought the quickest way to teach the others would be to show them the basics first. From that they would both take on the two Gods who where the most proficient at it.

After watching them struggle to manipulate their energy, Chaos decided on Heart whist Balance took on the Mother. Balance figured once they got a handle on their control and fully grasped the concept, then as long as the two were cautious they could practice in the realm.

The other Gods lingered to watch for a bit before going back to the realm and Judgment, the Judgment Hall.

It was a slow process. "When it comes to forming new souls, I start with compressing my energy into a small sphere." Balance explained to the Breath of Life. "Now this won't be like that for you, since you carry none of Lord Death's energy, but I fathom it's the same idea.

"Next, I disconnect it, like you saw when I filtered the souls to the realm." He glanced over to see if the woman remembered. When she nodded he went on. "That's when things really begin. I alter that energy into a dormant state and commence warping. You remember how my energy surrounded that soul and changed it right?"

The Mother mumbled under her breath about it being one the most incredible experiences she'd ever had. Balance chuckled. "Right, well this is somewhat similar. Instead of surrounding it, I use a small thread of my power, like when we first made the link and insert Death's presence into it.

That way when it arrives in the realm it starts off as 'mortal', excluding being bitten by vampires and the like. This is what makes a soul, a soul. Once done, that's when I begin warping it's size and shape. Lastly, I encase it in a protective layer. Without that layer the soul would break under the pressure of the physical realm." The wizard lectured.

"What we're going to try to do is add the theory of magic to that. It worked out pretty well for the Chamber so I assume this is our best bet. You already know the theory from when I told you my past. Now you just need to try putting the principle to paper. If Judgment could do it, so can you." He finished.

He walked her through the steps and he wasn't sure if he should even bother being surprised.

The Mother picked up the concept fairly quick, but whenever she tried to disconnect her energy, it would fizzle out. Still they were making progress. He glance over to Chaos and her own student. They agreed before they started to teach one for the first two weeks and then switch. If they still weren't ready by then, they would extend the lessons. Balance smiled, from the looks of it, four week would be enough for these two.

It took a little over seven months to teach all of them. Balance was relieved when they were through. He knew Chaos was getting frustrated being unable to work on her own project, between her job as the God of Destruction as well as lessons twice every week, she was becoming overwhelmed. Not that the blonde confessed that to him, what pointed it out was her higher than normal snappy behaviour. The wizard figured he had things pretty easy. If there was one reason to thank Lord Death, it'd be for his dementors.

While his fellow Gods focused on that, Balance worked on making some of his own 'creations'. The only time he was interrupted was when Heart sought him out for advice on manipulating different shapes whilst creating. Balance used his new found project as an example.

"Okay, so the Chamber is rather dark from only receiving light from the Revival Circle. I've been toying with the idea of creating spheres of light similar to souls, only brighter. I managed it once, but destroyed it when it fluctuated light instead of remaining steady." Balance explained while leading him into the Chamber.

"Along with that, I've been testing using my limited knowledge on conjuration from when I was a wizard to manipulate my abilities to do the same. We have all our meetings in here now yet nowhere to sit down." He went on.

"Though that's not why you're here. Watch." And Heart did.

He witnessed as Balance started with the same principle he first showed him. But instead of gifting the small globe Death's influence first, he immediately covered it with his energy once it was freely floating in front of him. "Now I increase it's energy." The old wizards energy began to glow brighter and brighter, then suddenly he dropped his hands.

Heart felt his eyes widen at the unusual glowing sphere, almost a soul yet not. "Balance, that's." He started though Balance cut him off.

"Not done yet. Just keep watching. This is what you asked for, changing shapes right?" The God questioned his comrade.

The God of Love turned his attention back towards the small light and watched as his friends energy slowly stretched it, reaching out and grabbing on, then pulling away. Soon the globe was bent and warped into a polyhedron star. Before Heart could comment on it, the star's light began to waver.

"And that's the problem. They end up glowing fine until I change their shape. It's the same thing reversed. If I absorbed it's energy until it's not glowing at all, the shape doesn't influence anything.

"My suggestion would be to keep light out of whatever you're trying to make until we can study this further." Balance concluded.

He wanted to get on with more experimenting and quickly shooed Heart away before he could come up with anymore questions.

* * *

At the next meeting, the Mother showed up with a semi translucent cloud floating behind her. The woman was so excited with her creation that she imitated Fate's usual springy behavior. Balance was impressed she'd managed it so quickly. As the rest of them oohed and awed at the cloud, the Breath of Life revealed it's purpose.

"I call it the Wisp of Life." She started, "I gave it the gift to breathe the breath of life into the souls." The former teacher beamed at the cloud as it floated around her. "I've made about fifteen so far and each one carries a different personality trait. Once they give life to the souls, I read their parents energies and direct certain ones to give them a trait. I still need tons more, I'm thinking sixty will be enough. But for now I'm quite happy with the outcome." She summed up.

While the amount she already had was impressive, Balance couldn't help but voice his doubts. "Is that really the best way to go about things?" He questioned. Chaos concurred with him saying, "It seems like a waste of time to have to send multiple Wisps to one soul." The wizard was starting to lose his composure with the amount of times he and Chaos agreed on things. She didn't even like him for Merlin's sake.

"As long as it works than that's all that matters." Heart interjected. The two objectors conceded at that and the meeting moved on to how the others were coming along with their own creation. Heart spoke up again telling them, "I'll have the first two done by the next meeting most likely and introduce them then."

"How are you two finishing so fast." Fate exclaimed. "I'll have you know I've had destroy my own multiple times from it being defected." She sulked. Balance saw the Mother hide a smile from the corner of his eyes. He could understand, it was hard to take Fate seriously when her every action was to the extreme.

Soon after they all conveyed their own status, Balance figured this was as good of time as any to bring up his solution on forming an enhanced soul to aid the realm. "You said you want to create a God, but Gods are born not created." He began. "Not only do we not have any idea how to achieve that, we ourselves are still getting used to our new status. Bringing in another God right now could make things more difficult."

Warmth frowned, "What exactly are you suggesting here?" The soldier questioned. He looked upset and worried at the logic Balance indicated.

The wizard surveyed his fellow Gods before continuing, "I want to forge an enhanced soul." He stated. The man held out his hands in a placating gesture as the rest voiced their opinions on that. "Just listen." He tried to say over the volume. A loud whistle attracted everyone's attention towards the God of Peace, who grinned and nodded at Balance to continue. The Scotch-Irish man seemed amused at the disorder the meeting had turned into.

Balance gave him a thankful look before resuming his case, "Think about it. I know none of us asked for this life and we were forced into it, but all of us were able to do the work the old Gods intended us to. If we can conclude that, then making an enhanced soul is our best option. I'm still working out different methods to achieve the desired out come, but this could actually work. If we can combine our gifts and manipulate the soul's dormant power into something they can use to restore the realm, then our problem is solved and we can focus on reconnecting the Voids." He argued.

Heart adopted a considerate poise, "Balance is right. We can also use the limited amount of knowledge we have on our previous existence as enhanced souls to assist us." He gave the others a firm look, "I believe this is our best option. Balance, try exploring different ways to make such a soul. Once you have a working concept we can move on from there."

Though displeased at the concept, their fellow Gods relented and the meeting drew to a close.

* * *

The God of Balance began testing his theory by creating a soul that he would use as a model only. With that soul he experimented with enlarging it to a size that would be capable of housing a dormant power, yet at the same time be small enough to withstand the pressure of the realm. The biggest issue he came across was stabilizing it whenever he inserted a small portion of his power. He brought it up at the next meeting and hoped one of his companions could offer some advice.

"I don't know, none of us would. That's the problem with this solution and we're wasting our time trying to iron out details for something that might not even work." The Goddess of Destruction huffed out.

Before anyone could dispute that, Heart switched the topic by summoning two familiar looking beings. Balance was incredulous when he realized what they were emulating. The wizard briefly wonder if he had some latent seer abilities that survived moving into this realm.

The God of Love gestured at the small figure hovering on his right, "Meet my first ever Bonder." He introduced and then switched their attention over to the figure on his left, "And his counterpart the Breaker."

Balance was slightly in shock. He remembered comparing Heart to Cupid when they first met, but he never expected him to actually make them real. The wizard mused that it mad since with the whole God of Love thing he had going on. So this is why Heart wanted advice on molding different shapes with his energy.

Balance smirked in pride, their oldest comrade had out done himself he observed. Both angels wore a white toga and had curly blonde hair fitted with a crown made of leaves. They fit the description of Cupid rather well with their small stature, feathered wings, and childlike appearance. The only thing that confused him were the different weapons the wielded.

Heart cleared that up in his next few sentences, "Like the Mother, I planned to create more, though only around thirty." He explained. "As you can see, the Bonder carries a bow." The little angel gave a shy smile at the attention he was receiving. "After I inform him what souls need bonds, he will connect them with an arrow made from energy used to form bonds." Heart continued, smiling at his angels bashful nature.

He turned towards the on on his right again, "Rather than another bow, I forged a dagger made from the energy capable of severing bonds for the Breakers." Instead of giving the Gods a smile, they received a mischievous smirk. Heart shook his head at the sight before continuing, "They will analyse the bonds soul's share and break them if they start to warp." He concluded.

Chaos looked on with something akin to longing, "They're wonderful." She praised softly. All eyes turned to her in shock, though she saw none of that, her gaze still focused on the young beings fluttering before her. "Did the Mother help you with their personalities?" The woman questioned her fellow blonde.

Heart shook his head, "No, it's remarkable really. They seemed to have developed it on their own." The man exclaimed with wonder in his voice. When the rest glanced at the Breath of Life for confirmation, they caught her studying the angels curiously.

Balance hummed in thought. That certainly changed a few things. He supposed that it was the intent that they were created with that led to their current demeanor. The wizard had to remind himself of the same words he told Judgment, they were capable of accomplishing more as Gods. He reason that if he created a soul with the intention to have it gain a unique personality then the Mother might end up surprised when she stumbled upon it. Though it was also possible that creating life with their own powers and without asking the Mother to gift them traits, made room for the two cupids to develop their own.

"I was thinking of having the Mother gift traits to the other's I form. I'm afraid of them becoming too wayward to do their assignments and instead wreck havoc on the realm" Heart informed them before sending the angels back to the realm.

Chaos sneered, displeased at the thought of, in a way, taking away their free will. The wizard could understand where she was coming from, but unfortunately Heart was right. They couldn't have them twisting bonds on purpose and tainting the souls. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair.

Which had, Balance thinking back to the results of his adjustments to the Chamber. It wasn't anything extravagant, but he was pleased with it none the less. The room now held three glowing spheres suspended above their heads, a round wooden table in the center large enough to seat a few more, and a rather basic set of wooden chairs around it.

He was broken out of his musing on how he could upgrade them by Judgment. The God changed the subject. "You three." He paused when they all looked at him before clarifying with an awkward smile, "I meant the Mother, Heart, and Balance.

"Now that the two of you only need to finish by increasing the number of your creations; you have some spare time to work on recreating the event Balance and I unknowingly stumbled into with the link." The God shrugged, "Balance can describe the experience and when I complete my own project I can join in as well as anyone else who finishes."

The rest agreed and the three Gods arranged a schedule to congregate around their assignments. Before the conversation moved on to more trivial maters Fate made an oath.

"I would like to announce that the end results of my own project will leave the rest of you praising my name forever and I'd like to be referred to as the most brilliant Goddess for my stroke brilliance." The pixie trailed off with a gesture of superiority. While the Mother smiled indulgently back, Chaos however scowled and took offence.

"We'll see about that." The blonde spat out in anger. Strength laughed at her expression and the tension eased enough for the meeting to move on.

* * *

The Goddess of Destruction didn't wait long nor did she wait for their annual meeting to reveal her results. Instead the woman arrived in the Revival Circle with three short entities lagging behind after her and practically ripped Balance away from his task of creating an enhance soul to drag him into the Chamber. Where she called the rest to meet them.

Upon a closer inspection he noticed that they could not in fact be consider as entities and appeared more human than Heart's angels. He blinked at them in surprise whilst his fellow Gods arrived and took their seats. Their eyes staring at the three children curiously, though he noticed that the Mother and Warmth did not look as intrigued.

Chaos remained standing before she gestured at the child peeking out behind her and told the young boy to introduce himself. She sent Fate a smug smile as he spoke.

"Hello." He whispered nervously. When Chaos moved to push him in front of her he shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "I'm Perses and Chaos gave me the ability to bring natural disasters to the realm." The child rushed out before once more hiding behind the woman.

Balance was overcome with grief at the sight. It reminded him of his own children when they were young. Though the wizard was slightly amused at the name. Perses was the name of the Greek God of Destruction. Though the child shared no other visible similarities to the God.

Perses physically appeared around the mortal age of ten or eleven and instead shared Chaos's light blonde hair and blue eyes and their facial structure was comparable. The two other children were around the same age and held an almost identical demeanor. Though the girl sported a short neat bundle of brown waves rather than blonde and the other boy was a few inches taller than Perses.

The Goddess praised him and nodded for one of the others to make their acquaintance. A small girl stepped forward at her signal and smiled at them. "Sorry about Perses, he's rather clingy." She rolled her eyes at Chaos's warning to be nice. "Chaos named me Nyx after the Goddess of the Night." She smirked, "I have the ability to influence soul's in the 'dream world' and have them bring forth chaos once awakening." The little girl turned to her creator as if to ask if that was good enough. An exasperated but fond smile had Nyx stepping back and motioning the last forward.

The other boy straitened and stepped up. "I'm Lues after the Roman spirit of pestilence. I release the diseases Chaos creates into the realm." He stated simply. Chaos beamed proudly at her children before waiting on the other Gods' input.

"I assume from their personalities and the Mother's knowing look that you asked her to gift them." Heart questioned with a glance at the Mother. The mentioned brunette gave a soft hum and guilty smile.

Chaos spoke up quickly to reassure her comrades, "I did, but I promise both of us were careful." Her voice grew in confidence. "They all have the trait that establishes responsibilities and I asked Warmth to gift them with an unique brand of emotions to initiate their jobs importance. These are the only three I will create and it's easy for me to watch them so they don't overuse their gifts and create too much chaos to disrupt the realm."

With her eyes pleading them to accept them, the Gods relented and after making sure nothing else needed to be addressed they left.

After her impromptu show and tell, Balance moved to stand at the edge of the Chamber of the Gods and looked off into the emptiness of the Judgment Hall, when she approached him. "That was why you know." Chaos stated breaking the silence and shooing her children to the realm. The man glanced at her in inquiry to go on.

"I never had the chance to have children in the other realm." She sighed. "I was raped and beaten to death by my fiance and his friends."

The wizard looked at her in shock. He now understood her reaction when he dragged her into the Void long before. No wonder she had such a distrusting nature after that act. The man felt bad for his initial thoughts on the woman. But before he could apologize and give his remorse at her death, she pierced him with a look and he closed his mouth at the silent warning.

"It's why I was so for watching this realm die. Do you know how long I've waited to be reborn after what the Goddess who gifted me told me? Forever it seems and all a waste in the end. My dream of a better life and having children of my own was ripped from me." She whispered, her eyes full of sorrow. "I didn't care that I wouldn't remember this life after my rebirth. All that matter was the idea of something better. That's why I made Perses, Nyx, and Lues in the image you saw. I may never get to live out my dream but I'll have them. I didn't give birth to them, but they're still mine."

Balance absorbed that before asking, "That's why you sought aid from the Mother and Warmth. I understand why, yet I can't help but worry that." Chaos cut him off before he could finish.

"I promise we were careful and I made sure they understood just how powerful they are and why they needed to use their gifts with caution." A smile flitted across her face, "They're perfect. Perses is so astounded by the realm and he loves storms just as much as me."

The Goddess laughed, "Nyx gets way too much enjoyment from picking on him. She's the most like me out of all of them, excluding her hair of course. She somehow gained my snark and bouts of sarcasm." The woman looked away and up towards the dangling lights. "Lues, however is rather quiet, though he has a small bit of hero worship for Warmth from some of the war stories he's told them."

Glancing back at him she confessed her one fear. "I still want the Voids reconnected." The woman frowned. "I want that promised chance to begin again and I want to have an actual family, Balance. Already, I have grown fond of them and love them as if they were my real children. I don't want to leave them behind and I fear what will happen when that time comes."

Chaos let out another sigh before she fully turned towards him, her eyes filled with intrigue. "What about you? If I recall right, you vehemently told us that you wanted to watch this realm burn." The blonde questioned him.

Balance let out a huff as he began. "Near the end I had a rather good life; a wife and family as well as three children of my own." He told her and glanced away when her expression shifted to longing. "I know that most likely they've been reborn without me and yet I can't help but wonder if when the souls resonate energies." He trailed off and his voice adopted a wistful tone. "Maybe, just maybe, it lets them share a conscious for a bit." He glanced back at her and explained further, "Y'know, something akin to heaven where they can reunite with their loved ones. That, Chaos, is what I crave most in this existence."

She didn't speak up after that and instead the two took comfort in the silence whilst imagining how happy they'd be if their fantasies were reality. The reappearance of Perses had her moving.

Before she left the woman glanced back and gave him a rare soft smile. "Once we have the realm sorted, we can find a way to connect the Voids. I don't care how long it takes, I'll use motivation and willpower alone to achieve it." She declared quietly. The blonde disappeared with her son before he could give his own declaration of the same. Balance figured it wasn't that far of stretch to assume she guessed his intentions anyway.

At least he knew for certain he had one ally in his self given quest. Even if they had to go behind their fellow God's backs to achieve it. The two Voids would be reconnected, Balance himself would make sure of it.

* * *

The next day Judgment approached him to get his input on what he called s Sprite. Balance listened thoughtfully to his concerns while he observed the small globes colored the same darkness as the Judgment Hall.

"You're right about the amount." Balance told him. "I myself only have about twenty dementors and none of them stay in the Ancient Void full time." He looked up from his examination to confirm, "With the soul's giving off energy that already disrupts the Void so we can't have too many other energies challenging that as well." He gave the other a look of pride as he went on. "You were wise to create only fifteen since they'll be here full time. I never even thought of the possible outcome to the Void if you made too many. What exactly are they capable of anyway?"

Judgment beamed at the praise, "They can scan the souls once they awaken and feed their findings back to me." The man paused to poke the sphere once it started hovering around his face and gestured at the Judgment Hall. The Sprite hesitated before shooting towards it and was engulfed by the darkness. "From that I command them to either escort the soul hear or move it out of the way. They don't have the power to destroy tainted souls, but will inform me if one arrives and I don't immediately pick up on it. I'll introduce them at the meet later today."

Balance nodded and with a grin watched as the other green eyed God return to his own dwelling. His companions made him want to create more beings like his dementors with all their creativity. It was just to bad the Void wouldn't be able to handle the kind of help he needed. Besides he was finally getting somewhere with this whole enhanced soul thing and another project would only distract him from his priority.

Judgment did indeed introduce his Sprites at the meeting and afterwards joined the other Gods who were working on the link in their discussion. With his help the five made actually progress. As it turns out, Judgment was better at explaining the event much better than Balance was able to.

For the next few weeks they managed to send broken messages to each other over the bond. Until finally Chaos sent the first comprehensible sentence to Heart. She explained they were focusing to hard on trying to reach the other and if they instead concentrated on picturing the person they wanted to receive the message then it was much more easier to get it across. Judgment was fixing to attempt her method with the Mother when the link suddenly flared.

Balance let out a groan of annoyance when their companions flooded in and Strength appeared with a grin and a bear cub on his shoulders. The wizard stilled and stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Meet one of my bears." The God of Peace started. "I decided on bears as a kind of homage to the one that managed to best me. Like Chaos I only made three since I didn't want to tip the balance." He handed the animal over to Fate when she made grabby motions at it and laughed as she began cuddling it. "I'm not naming them." Strength amended that statement at Fate's look. "I mean they're bears. What else could I call them but bears?"

Fate pouted, the man wasn't wrong after all. "He's adorable." She cooed instead, oblivious to the face Strength made at her words.

"He is not adorable." He voice wavered in outrage. "He harbors willpower and resilience with the ability to strengthen uncertain souls." He swiveled in his spot to look at Chaos for reassurance. The woman gave him a wicked smirk and her eyes laughed at him.

"They are adorable. Why do you think I advised you to go with the cubs in the first place?" Her tone grew more amused as she went. "My kids now have three cute teddy bears to play with whenever they get bored."

Warmth snorted. "Is that where the other two are now?" He joined Chaos to smirk at Strength. "You got played man." The soldier easily dodge the halfhearted swipe to his head and laughed. "Are they all black bears?" He asked.

Strength grunted in irritation at their mocking. "Of course not." He huffed out. "They all hold different abilities and the different breeds makes it easier to tell them apart." With on last glare at the two he turned away and proceeded to ignore them. "The polar bear delivers miracles while the panda exudes a soothing energy to souls planning to commit violence." He explained. "That's all there is to them."

Warmth stepped forward and held up his hand in the universal signal that he meant no harm when Strength glared at him. "I figure since we're all here I might as well introduce the Iridescent Clouds." He shrugged and two clouds phasing through the rainbow shimmered into existence next to him. "The Mother helped me out as you can see from their design. I also made the same amount as her and I've only been tweaking them at this point." He glanced at his clouds before turning back. "Instead of creating every one with a different emotion I have them fluctuating them." He rolled his eyes at Balance and Chaos. "So for your peace of mind they only need to visit once."

"So now we're just waiting on Fate huh?" Balance raised an eyebrow an the girl and shook his head at her sly smile. The wizard shooed her away to finish and motioned Warmth and Strength over. "Right, so Chaos has pretty much figured out the bond thing." His voice ebbed off as he left the Goddess to explain.

* * *

It took around a month before they were satisfied the had it down and taught Fate how to use it. The only thing they used it for was throwing banter back and forth. Fate was actually the first to use it for a true purpose when she broadcast the information she had finished her creation. All Balance could think as they convened in the Chamber was that it was about time and this better be the most amazing thing he'd ever seen since she forced them to wait an additional six months.

The God was not disappointed when she walked in. Like Heart's "Cupid" army the woman walked in with a red string languidly swirling around her body. The man barked out a laugh. This was definitely his favorite overall.

The pixie sent him a smirk and struck a pose. "Introducing the real, actual, never before seen," Fate beamed at them. "Red String of Fate's." Her pose crumbled as she let out a giggle at the incredulous look she revived at her antics. "I designed it to silently snap apart whenever a soul leaves the womb. It seeks out newborns," She frowned. "Newborn children not vampires." The woman clarified. "Anyway, it delivers the chosen destiny to the souls by creating a loop around their neck seamlessly and sinking into their vessel to wrap around their soul. Thus influencing it to meet out it's fate."

The Mother frowned, "What happens when it grows too short and what about when the souls are reaped?" She worriedly examined the vibrant string. "It won't stay attached to them and follow them to the Judgment Hall will it?"

Fate shook her head and bounced on her toes, "That's what took me so long to figure out." She shot Chaos a smug look full of revenge. "I finally managed to get it to maintain it's length two weeks ago. It regenerates." She exclaimed excitedly. "Incredible right? Other than that you don't need to worry about it influencing souls in the Ancient Void." A glint caught her eye and she lit up motioning to it.

They watched as a short thread stretched out and was absorbed by the larger. "Whenever Balance or a dementor ferries a soul the string detaches and goes to the nearest newborn or returns to the main line. It works out perfectly since I couldn't figure out a way for it to remove itself from the souls without damaging the unless they were outside the body." She summed up.

Balance smiled at the realization sunk in. With Fate now down the could begin creating the enhanced soul. He had finally worked out the rest of the kinks a few weeks after they managed to master communicating with the bond, As much as they had wanted to, they couldn't start without Fate.

This was it. The final experiment. Now they just needed to begin and soon. The amount of time it took for them to get to this point was more than they had anticipated and Balance could only imagine how much longer it would take to complete an enhanced soul than a normal one. He wasn't looking forward to it with the way time was running down. The realm was falling and this needed to work. It was all they had.


	9. The Chosen Soul

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: 9**

 **Keep in mind this story is divergent from both fandom's cannon. Just reminding everyone since I'm going to start twisting things completely.**

Tempest S **: This story is based in an alternate universe. The Twilight characters and Harry all originate from the Harry Potter universe. After their death they were sent to the new realm, 'the Twilight universe'. So the realm they are in now is Twilight. I stated in the beginning that this realm has vampires and shifters yet holds nothing else from the original realm, 'the Harry Potter universe'. I hope this clear some things up. You'll understand more in later chapters. Basically I'm playing on the 'Harry is Death' trope and 'the Olympic Coven adopts Harry' trope to create a completely different story. This was more of an experiment to break my writer's block that turned into something I'm proud of and accomplished that task. I will be doing a mass edit to fill some plot holes once I mark this story as complete. So please bear with me.**

 **Thank you and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

The Chosen Soul

Balance started off the same way he did with all the souls. The wizard was nervous. The base he'd ended up creating when he first tested this showed that this should work. In theory at least.

The other Gods had left him alone to focus. After Balance finished his part he would then call the other's to contribute.

The wizard's only problem was that Chaos was right. There was no way of telling if this method would work. The whole idea was that they would split a portion of their power and give it to the soul. Balance hoped that by giving it different abilities the soul would one day learn to manipulate them into a power for the realm. The question was whether or not it would work.

The God sighed. He needed to focus.

Balance began with enlarging the soul like he had done so many times before. He found that after practice this became the easiest part. Now to move on to the most delicate part. The God carefully used his powers to destroy a small portion of the soul. Immediately afterwards he surrounded the soul with pulsing soul energy to stabilize it.

He exhaled in relief when it didn't explode. From there he began molding the edges around, almost as if he was hollowing it out. When he had a solid shell of soul energy encasing a small round cavity he was pleased. This cavity would hold the expanse of powers the Gods would gift it.

Balance used the link to call the Mother, Chaos, and Strength. The Mother's comment that he'd been working for a decade and a half annoyed him. Even with it being a simple process, soul creation always seemed to take forever and still they were nowhere near done.

The Mother would be the first to gift some of her powers. Balance was glad he had finally discovered this method. It was the only way he was able to stabilize the soul after reviving the energy. Carefully the woman reached out and let a small thread of her power fill a portion of the hole. Once done she disconnected it and Balance put a thin layer of soul energy over it so the next energy wouldn't mix.

The process continued with the other two and then the wizard gave the soul his own gift. Four different gifts for one soul. Balance smile at the thought of just how special this soul would be. It would surly be awing with the ability to breathe the Breath of Life, the power to influence the realm, the willpower to overcome the impossible, and the gift of creation. He shook himself from his thoughts to wrap up his part in the creation. The wizard encased the mass of swirling energy in another layer of soul energy and called forth the rest of them.

He had Judgment surround the soul energy with some energy from the Judgment Hall. The idea was that once the soul was ferried to the Ancient Void the energy would crack and would set off a chain reaction causing the soul energy protecting the gifts to disperse. With this he hoped that they would be able to better control the reaction from the energies finally mixing since the soul would be more mature. The God believed the merging of the energies would awaken the soul similar to how they themselves awaken in the Void of Judgment.

That done, Balance began filtering the soul to the realm and the Mother, Heart, Warmth, and Fate followed it. The Mother would do her normal job and breathe life into the soul. Though instead of using it's parent's energies to base the personality on, she would influence it in a way that would let the soul better accept it's fate. She gave the soul three main traits; stubbornness, a craving to help other's, and the ability to enjoy long periods of solitude. After all, even after they had found each other, being a God was still a rather lonely existence.

Heart would gift the soul with weak bonds to it's parents. Whilst the soul would still love and miss them in the Ancient Void, it would not be overcome with the feeling. The God used the emotions Warmth gifted it to his advantage. Warmth had given the soul dulled down emotions. It still had the most basics of them but this way, it would better accept the destiny Fate handed it.

Which brought up Fate's roll. That would be the most crucial part. For the first time ever Fate would weave a tale not based on possibilities but instead of her own invention and she would gift it to them whilst still in the womb. This was the biggest risk they were taking as none of them knew how this change would affect the soul. The pixie was confident that things would turn out okay but Balance wasn't sure.

When the Gods rejoined their companions in the Revival Circle and told them the soul was still stable, the rest of them breathed a breath of relief. Everything was now in motion and they only needed to wait and see how things would turn out. The Gods would be keeping a close eye on their special soul to make sure that it never broke under the immense energy it carried.

* * *

Fate was the first to realize just how special their soul was. She had gone to check up on it, when the most peculiar thing occurred.

"Who are you?" The child asked. Fate dismissed it as a game mortal children played. They always seemed to make up things and talk to thin air. The pixie giggled, she remember her own experience with that in the other realm. But then the child stood up and walked towards her and repeated the question. Fate looked at the child in shock before she knelt down.

"Do you see me, child?" She question softly. The child gave her a strange look and nodded. The little girl then reached for her hand and once more Fate was surprised. The Goddess stood up and allowed the soul to lead her to the small table she was playing at before.

"Come play tea party with me." The girl beamed at the pixie, "It'll be fun, promise." The Goddess laughed in joy and sunk down across from her.

She glanced around the table, "How do we play?" The pixie listen as the child taught her the made up rules with a soft smile on her face. She had always been slightly jealous of Chaos and her children. As the woman reached out and grabbed a plastic tea cup, she couldn't help but wonder if she would have done this with her own children. Fate had died young and like most of them, had never gotten the opportunity to raise kids.

The woman laughed and smiled as she played the girl's chosen game. She answered her questions and waited patiently as she tried to form her words. It was odd that the child was so curious and even though she knew children always were, it shouldn't be possible for her to experience it with the limited traits the Mother gave her. The soul was so full of life and different from how her dulled emotions should have made her. Fate couldn't wait to tell the other's about this. The sound of the door opening had both of them pausing.

Fate watched as the woman she recognized as the soul's mother walked in. "Isabella, oh. Having another tea party are we?" The little girl grinned at her mother and nodded.

"Yes and I've made a new friend." The soul pointed at the pixie and her mother smiled in amusement. The woman walked over and sat down between them. She gave her daughter a soft smile.

"Why don't you introduce us then or will I have to say hello myself." The woman softly chastised the young girl. The child rolled her eyes at her mother's words before beaming at Fate.

"This is Fate!" She told the woman and turned to Fate, "This is my mommy! Mommy, say hi." The Goddess laughed with her mother at the child's antics. The pixie smiled when the woman turned in the direction her daughter said she was sitting.

"Why hello there Fate. I'm Renée, Isabella's mother." She looked slightly embarrassed at her words. Fate guessed it was because she couldn't see her. "It's wonderful to meet you." The woman turned back to her daughter. "Alright Isabella, playtime is over. Come on, I have dinner ready."

Fate watched as she stood up and motioned the young girl to do the same. The child pouted. "But mommy we aren't done yet." The soul wined out. "Please let me play for a little longer."

"No, baby. I'm sure if you ask Fate to come back and play after dinner then she will." The woman told her daughter. When it looked like the Breath of Life's stubborn trait was going to rear it's head Fate intervened.

"I promise we can play together again soon." The Goddess stood up. "But I'm afraid I have a meeting I need to head to." Fate giggled, "I'm glad I came here today child. It was simply remarkable to talk to you." The pixie turned to phase away but the child's voice held her still. The woman glanced back over her shoulder.

"Isabella." The soul told her in annoyance. "You keep calling me child." She stomped her foot, "But my name is Isabella."

Fate let out another laugh, "Alright then." She smirked, "See you later, Bella." The pixie disappeared before the child could correct her. Perhaps Chaos would allow her children to meet the child. The Goddess smiled at the thought of the three siblings making friends with their soul. It would be nice for them to meet another child.

It was time to call that meeting she told Bella she needed to attend. Her fellow Gods were about to be very surprised.


	10. The Favored Mortal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: I've changed a few things in Bella's past. I won't tell you since they're pretty obvious.**

noxenrom **: Can you expand on that? Like do you find it choppy or stiff? Help me out here, I can't fix what's wrong with them if you don't tell me why you find them difficult to read. Hmm, guess I should read and edit the first few chapters again. Sorry about that, I don't have a Beta so I know I miss things when I edit.**

 **!IMPORTANT!**

Okay so I'm getting tired of addressing this, so for the last time... This story is CANNON DIVERGENT. Meaning it does not follow the cannon story line in EITHER fandom. As I've stated previously, this story was an experiment to get rid of my writer's block. I'm happy with the way things are turning out and if you don't like the direction I'm taking with my story then don't read it. I'm all for getting critical reviews since they help me improve my writing. And I don't mind my readers asking questions when they get confused, but if you don't read the author's notes then you miss out on those answers. In the second chapter as well as the last one I stated this was an AU story. I've had the same issue when it comes to ships. This story has no pairings at this time and if you could all please bear with me then you will find out how I'm addressing this. I finished writing the last chapter of this today, 11/28/17, and have started editing. I have a sequel in the works and have decided that if enough people want pairings then I will hold a poll on my profile for suggestions. It's going to be a while till that poll goes up. And if you want to start leaving reviews of ships you'd like to see happen, go for it. Just remember that they will not come into play until the sequel and the poll won't go up until the last chapter is posted. So please, if you have any questions try to make sure I haven't already addressed them. This has started to become redundant and that's not what I wanted to come out of this. Anyway, sorry about the rant and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

 **!IMPORTANT!**

* * *

The Favored Mortal

Fate walked into the Chamber and took her usual seat in between Warmth and Chaos. She laughed at the inquisitive looks; and Chaos's impatient look; she received. The pixie enjoyed settling into her seat and drawing out the time. She grinned, this was going to interesting.

"I've just returned from our favorite soul's place of residence." She raised her hand in a signal to calm everyone down when they started shouting out worried questions. "She's fine. So fine in fact that she prefers to be referred to as Bella instead of child." Fate leaned back in her seat and waited for that to sink in.

The Goddess didn't have to wait for long. "What the hell do you mean by 'she preferred'?" Chaos stood up from her seat and starred at the other woman as if she'd lost her mind. "Do you seriously expect me to believe you spoke to the child? She's anchored! Anchored souls are incapable of seeing us!" The blonde woman looked around as if to measure what her companion's thought of that.

"Chaos, sit down and let her finish." Strength sighed. "Why must you always jump to conclusions." The broad man glanced past her to better see Fate. "Is that what you were insinuating?"

Fate tilted her head to the side in acknowledgment and Balance sucked in a breath in disbelief. "Chaos is right. Such a thing should be impossible." The wizard searched Fate's face for any sign she was lying. "You're serious. Merlin, you don't think her gifts have leaked through the protections we placed, do you?" The thought was terrifying. They didn't have the time to forge another enhanced soul. Heart had estimated they only had six to eight more decades before the realm died and they would still need to train the soul to use their power after they awoke in the Judgment Hall.

The pixie's excitement turned to worry. "To be honest, I didn't even consider the possibility." She looked towards the Mother's direction. "The child showed signs of developing traits the Mother didn't gift her." The woman nodded to the man sitting on her left. "She was also rather energetic and she appeared to feel things rather strongly."

"That is troubling." Heart frowned. "I think our best option is to keep our distance and watch her soul for any issues."

Judgment shook his head, "No. This is a good opportunity for us." He surveyed the other's faces. "We can guide her and not only that, but she'd be even more accepting of her destiny if she felt comfortable around us." The God looked away in thought, "We don't have to tell her anything of importance until she's in the Void. For now we need to gain her trust."

The Gods' ponder on that. It was risky, but the idea held merit. Fate shifted in her seat and faced Chaos. "I had the same conclusion as Judgment." She smiled. "Chaos, don't you think your children would like to make a friend closer to their mental age?" When the blonde looked to be considering it, Fate went in for the kill. "I know how lonely they are sometimes. Besides Bella loves reading and I'm sure she'd love to share her books with Lues. Also, Nyx needs a female friend."

Chaos gave a soft smile at the thought. "I think you may actually be on to something there, Fate." She glanced around for support. "My children would be a good influence on the soul and they know better than to say anything." The woman smirked and looked at Judgment. "A child will respond better to other children than a horde of adults."

Like Heart, Balance wasn't so sure this was the best idea. He sighed as he caught the other's nodding in agreement. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that the two of them were about to be outvoted.

* * *

Though he was still worried, Balance couldn't help but grow fond of the little girl. She reminded him of his own daughter and he accidentally found himself telling her about his love for Hogwarts, magic, and the amazing world he grew up in. The God never mentioned anything that came after that, but he loved how her face would light up at the stories.

"A flying car? Really?!" Bella bounce in her seat with eyes full of wonder. The man chuckled at the seven year old's enthusiasm. "Wow! That's the coolest!" She beamed.

"I thought so too at first." Balance shook his head. It really was remarkable how she continued to develop her own traits. The wizard was afraid that the energy from the Judgment Hall had cracked and caused his own protections to wither away. He wasn't able to sense anything of use though. Unless Judgment removed that energy he would never know for sure and it was too risky of a maneuver to attempt without damaging the soul. Even if they manged to accomplish it there was still a chance the gifts encased would surge up and destroy her vessel or even cause damage to the realm. The wizard couldn't risk it when they so desperately needed her to mend the realm.

"I can't remember exactly, but I believe that car smashed us right into the Whomping Willow." Balance continued and furrowed his brow in thought. He laughed. "It was absolutely terrifying." He grinned at her. "The car threw us out and drove off into the Forbidden Forest. The bloody thing wasn't supposed to be able to do that." Bella giggled and asked if they went after it. The wizard scoffed, "Of course not." He sent her a smirk. "Ron couldn't stand the thought of missing the feast." He laughed along with her at that thought.

Balance glanced up when he heard a throat clear. "Ah, is it that time already?" He smiled at Nyx, "I'll get out of your way then." The wizard had to promise the little girl three times that he'd tell her more stories before she allowed him to leave. Seeing the three siblings brought him back to Chaos's account of meeting the child. He glance back at the four before he disappeared back into the Void.

Worried though he was, Balance couldn't hold back the hope and anticipation he felt at watching their soul. That girl was going to achieve great things.

* * *

Nyx was nervous. Her mother wanted them to meet a mortal child and not just any mortal child, but the enhanced soul. She hated the feeling. It just wasn't like her to get nervous. That was more Perses's type of thing. "What is she like anyway? I mean what if she doesn't want to meet us." The brunette sneered to hide her fear at the thought.

"Nyx, stop. I've already met her a few times before and she's perfectly nice." Chaos pulled her little girl into a hug. "There's nothing to worry about. Little Bella has been excited to meet you three for weeks." The woman pulled away frowning. "Apparently she doesn't connect well with the other children at her school." Perses and Lues looked reassured but Nyx wasn't buying it. The dream walker looked at the house before her in disgust and followed her mother through the walls and into a child's room.

"Chaos you're back!" Bella ran over and hugged the Goddess. Nyx sneered at her in annoyance. "Is this them?" The soul peered at the three siblings with intrigue. Nyx scoffed. "No, we're the boogeyman. I mean, isn't it obvious?" She gave a mocking laugh and turned towards Chaos, "I thought you said she was intelligent."

Bella's eyes widened at the cruel words and Chaos frowned at her daughter. "I don't like you." The little girl told her simply. She then grabbed Perses's and Lues's hands and dragged them away to show the boys her things whilst completely ignoring the dumbstruck expression on Nyx's face. "This is my dolly. I named her Erika and she's the bestest dolly ever." Bella handed it to Perses when he made a motion for it. The boy smiled shyly at the new girl and examined the doll curiously. "Chaos tells me you like books." She said to Lues and motioned him towards her bookcase. The girl then proceeded to pick out her favorites and hand them to him. Lues began to struggle as the pile he was holding didn't seem to stop growing.

"I don't understand." Nyx looked at her mother questioningly. "I was just being myself like you told me too. Why doesn't she like me." Nyx tried to hold back the welling in her eyes and sniffed.

Gently, the Goddess of Destruction steered her daughter off to the side. "What you said was very rude Nyx." The woman sighed at the confused look she was given. "I'm sure if you apologized then everything will work out in the end." Nyx made a face. Apologize, yeah right. If anything the mortal should beg her for forgiveness. A shout had both of them looking up. "No!"

Nyx's eyes widened as her brother held the soul's doll out the window. Without thinking she scowled and phased over to Perses and whacked him over the head while he hesitated at the girl's shout. The wack caused his grip to falter and the doll to began descending. Nyx panicked and lunged forward. She had a brief moment of fear that she'd fall with the doll until Perses grabbed onto the back her shirt and pulled her back inside. The next thing Nyx knew was her mother's fretting over her and scolding at her brother. Serves him right; shy or not, Perses always managed to cause too much trouble. The dream walker shook her head at the incompetence of her brother.

Bella ran forward. "Are you okay? That was really bad." She frown at the girl. Bella wasn't sure if she was still mad about her mean comment or just relieved she was okay. When the other girl turned to her with a blank look and held out Erika, Bella decided that from this day forth, Nyx was her best friend. The mortal tackled the fellow girl to the ground and rambled her thanks.

Chaos rolled her eyes with a small smile and sighed in relief. Leave it to Nyx to find a way out of a sincere apology.

* * *

Bella loved having friends her own age to play with. Though she could never find it in herself to completely forgive Perses for the almost death of her beloved Erika. The little girl loved playing hide and seek with them. Lues was ridiculously good at it. She blushed at the thought and shook her head. Nyx was the best friend she had ever had. Well the siblings were her only friends, but that didn't matter. Bella frowned. She just didn't get on well with her classmates was all. Besides, they all hated reading and Lues loved reading just as much as her and. Her thoughts were interrupted by the aforementioned boy. "Bella, is there a reason you're drilling holes into the side of my head?" Lues raised an eyebrow at her. Bella blushed again as she realized she'd been staring at him and turned away. She scowled at Nyx when the girl started laughing at her.

Lues sighed at the girl. It had all started around a month ago; the shy smiles, the flushed cheeks, and even stuttering her words. The boy was beginning to regret agreeing to meet the girl. Of course he enjoyed the books she let him read and he supposed she wasn't so bad herself. The boy just wished Bella could be a little more subtle with her crush on him. Lues was tired of feeling his cheeks heat up whenever Fate, the Mother, and even his creator teased him about it. For Merlin's sake, she was mortal and would continue to grow while he would forever remain the same. Was it not obvious he wasn't interested? Lues frowned when he realized what he'd just thought. He'd been spending to much time with Balance it seemed. The boy sighed. He wasn't even planning on coming today. This was all that stupid trait's fault. And Fate's, mostly Fate's. Lues glared to the side as he remember the bait she'd given him.

"It's just so cute the way her eyes light up whenever she sees you, Lues." Fate giggled at him. Lues rolled his eyes. That was it. He was never going back to that house ever again. "Bella's been asking me when you and your siblings are coming by again." The pixie sent him a coy smile, "Apparently she received a new book from her dad and she can't wait for you to read it. She says it's the best one yet." Lues glanced at the Goddess with narrowed eyes. When she just kept giving him a secretive smile he scowled. Looks like he'd be going back after all. Why did he have to be so curious? Lues rolled his eyes. That trait was much too troublesome.

The boy shook his head to break out of the memory. He huffed in annoyance at the mortal's failing efforts to shut his sister up and returned to the book Bella had handed him the moment he arrived. Lues reluctantly admitted that it was better than the rest. The quiet boy snorted when his mother stepped in to stop Nyx's teasing. He tuned it out and fell back into his newly discovered world of adventure.

"Alright, that's enough Nyx." Chaos smiled fondly at the two girls. "Perses found the tea pot you were looking for, Bella." The woman shook her head as she was dragged to the small table along with her daughter. Well it was too bad Fate wasn't here. The pixie loved all of Bella's tea parties.

Chaos was so glad she had listen to her fellow Goddess. Bella had become something of another daughter for her. The blonde loved these moments. The times where she could forget she was a Goddess and pretend all four were her actual kids. It helped make things easier and relieved some of her desperation to reconnect the Voids. She still planned to, but it was nice to know that she could be happy in this new existence as well.

* * *

She was pacing back and forth in front of her bed. The preteens arms gestured wildly as she drone on about the unfairness of it all. Perses wished they could all do something other than listen to another one of Bella's rants about her classmates.

"You won't believe what they're calling me now. I hate those stupid names and little miss perfect, Anna Lee, pushed me down at recess. All I did was ask if she and her friends wanted play tag. But no." Bella stopped and rolled her eyes at Nyx. "They're afraid they'll catch my crazy." The girl laughed incredulously. "You can't catch crazy. It's not like it's some contagious disease. Can someone please tell me why I'm always surrounded by idiots?!" The mortal huffed and threw her hands up. She looked at her friends as if waiting for them to jump in with her ranting.

Lues moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Bella, how many times do I have to tell you to ignore them?" He sighs and falls backwards to stare at the ceiling. "You don't need them. I mean aren't we enough?"

Bella sighed. "You are and I do, I just." She shakes her head. "I just wish things were different. Like, I don't know." The girl moves to fall down beside him and sulk.

Perses took a quick glance at Nyx and groaned at her worried look. "Just quit then." The storm bringer hopped up on Bella's desk and continued, "We don't go to school so why should you? Doesn't really seem all that important anyways." The boy shrugged off the two glares he got in return for his comment. None of them were supposed be there anyway. He himself was supposed to be forming a thunder storm somewhere. But for the life of him, the boy couldn't remember where exactly that was supposed to be.

"As if my mom would allow that." Bella sighed dramatically and whined at her best friend, "Nyx. You're supposed to help me with stuff like this. What do I do?"

Nyx walked over and pushed her best friend off the bed. She ignored Bella's outcry at the action and stuck her finger right in front of the other girl's face. "You." The dream walker scowled and waved her finger. "Need to stop whining. Honestly Bella, we do this almost every week now." She dropped her hand and gave her own sigh. "You say you ignore them, but if you're seeking them out to play tag then you aren't." Her expression shifted to confusion. "I don't get it. You don't even like people all that much to begin with. Why are you trying so hard to befriend with them anyway?"

Bella rolled her eyes and picked herself back off the floor. "I don't know." She shrugged and looked at Nyx. "Normalcy maybe." The girl walked over to grab her backpack from beside the door and rummaged through it for her homework. "I guess it's to ease my mom's worries about me not fitting in and to stop the pitting looks all the adults give me."

Perses huffed in annoyance, "Right, well tell us how that all works out for you in the end." He glanced over at his siblings and gave them a serious look, "We need to get back to our own work anyways."

Nyx smirked at him, "That's right Perses. None of us want to mess up your record of being mommy's good little boy do we?" She laughed when he hissed at her. "Don't give me that look. Stop being such a goody-two-shoes and I'll up your status to mommy's crybaby instead." Nyx yelped when her arm was pinched and she spun around in anger. "What the heck Lues?!"

Her brother snorted. "Leave him alone. Besides, you know he's right and Bella seems to have homework anyway." Lues gave the mortal a carefree wave and smirked. "Same time next week, yeah?" The boy vanished before she could reply and missed her blush. Nyx didn't and laughed at her friend's face.

"Shut up!" Bella yelled and threw her notebook at the other girl. She huffed when it landed harmlessly on the ground and turned to rant at Perses. The girl blinked in surprise when she found that he too had vanished. The preteen grumbled to herself as she went to retrieve her notebook. "Where do they all go anyway?" Bella pouted. "Can't they see I'm having a crisis here. They should be here to support me. That's what friend's are for, right?"

Reluctantly she opened her book to start on her homework.

* * *

The four children remained close over the years until Bella's mother kept on about her growing up and letting go of her imaginary friends. The little girl didn't understand why her mother never saw them. She asked Chaos once and like always, didn't receive a straight answer. With her parents fighting all the time because of it, the child turned to the Breath of Life for a hopefully better answer. "Why am I the only one able to see you?" Bella looked at the kind woman imploringly.

The Mother sighed and paused in her reading of Bella's favorite book, her favorite for now anyway. The woman smiled. While she wasn't aware of how their soul had grasped these new traits so easily, she didn't worry like the other's. Didn't they see that this meant she would be able to twist her powers to aide the realm. The Goddess had given her the gift to breathe life, not the gift to give traits. She shook her head and closed the book.

The woman shuffled her body to face the little girl's more easily, "You are very special Bella." She laughed as the girl's face scrunched up in annoyance at her indirection. "One day you will have a very important task to complete and I have every faith in your abilities to complete it." The Goddess stood up and walked over to look out the window. She sighed. "All you need to remember is that even though those around you remain skeptical; we are very real and we'll always be here for you child. Whether that is just as someone to listen to your concerns or to help guide you in the right direction."

Bella frowned. Fate and Judgment were always telling her what the right thing to do was and what the wrong thing to do was. The two would tell her all these terrible things that might happen if she strayed from their guidance. The girl didn't like it and she liked these non answers she always got even less.

Like the time she'd asked Fate about her string and all she got in response was, "Why wouldn't I have it? I mean this is the Red String of Fate. Is it not?" Fate had laughed at her own joke and Bella had joined her, but inside she was tired of all the avoidance she was receiving. It happened again when she'd asked Strength about their odd names. The man had laughed at her and said that Isabella was a strange name too. Like they actually had the same amount of weirdness with their names. That was the worst lie yet. And she was always being told she was special, but no one every told what it was that made her special. It just wasn't fair and she was sick of it.

So sick of it in fact that as she was continued to be teased and bullied for talking to thin air, the girl distance herself from the Gods. Bella hated that she wasn't normal. She hated that she felt like it was her fault that her parent's got divorced. The mortal hated a lot of things actually; her dad moving to some back water town and the looks her mother gave her even when she stopped talking about her friends in the open. Though above all, she hated the end of her friendship with the siblings and their mother.

She'd had been a terrible day of being mocked at school again. She snorted to herself, so the usual basically. And she just didn't want to deal with it anymore. So when Nyx showed up for the movie marathon they had planned, she ignored her.

"So what are we watching anyway." Nyx asked as she plopped down next to Bella on the couch. She waited. "Uh, hello? Bella you there." When Bella still made no move to respond the dream walker scowled and ripped the book the other was reading from her hands. "I thought we were watching 'the best movies ever' today." She quoted with her fingers. Nyx frowned in concern when Bella still didn't answer her. "Did something happen? We can talk about if you want."

The prolonged silence was beginning to get to the child. "Bella seriously what's going on?" Nyx moved in front of her friend's face and her eyes narrowed when she looked away. "Oh, is that it then? What you get tired of me or something? Well guess what Bella, all of us have been tired of your whining for years now!" Nyx stood up and hissed when she still received nothing from the girl.

Unwillingly her eyes welled up and she raised her voice in desperation, "Fine then! You need me more than I need you anyway!" She disappeared in the next second and found herself in the Ancient Void. For the first time ever, the girl ran into the Chamber of the Gods' and interrupted a meeting as she rushed to her mother"s side and sob into her shoulder.

"Hey now, baby what's wrong? I thought you were with Bella?" Chaos frowned when her question was met with harsher cries. The Goddess glanced up at her companions in concern and asked one of them to check on the mortal child. Balance began to rise from his seat in a clear sign of volunteering, but Nyx flung herself away from her mother and slammed her hands down onto the table before he could disappear. "No! Why should you? She doesn't want anything to do with us anymore. She." The girl choked on another sobbed and allowed Chaos to pull her back into her arms. The Gods' were shocked, surly the child was overreacting.

Chaos's frown deepened and she waved her hand. As soon as her other two children arrived at her summons she asked, "Have either of you fought with Bella recently?" The two kids' stared at their sister in shock and Chaos had to snap her fingers to regain their attention. "Well?" Both of them shook their heads and Lues looked at his mother in question, "What happened?" The boy looked around for some kind of answer since his mother sighed but said no more.

"Nyx apparently had some trouble with her. She says the girl wants nothing to do with us anymore." Fate answered for her fellow Goddess. "Balance was going to go check on her, but knowing her old crush on you." Fate gave him a worried look. "Just go see her for us. She might respond better to you, Lues." The aforementioned boy gave her a strange look. "Bella grew out of that years ago." He reaffirmed and frowned at his sister. "Nyx has always been the closest to her out of all of us. I doubt she'll talked to me if she won't with her."

Judgment smiled in slight amusement. "Fate's right. You should go." When Lues started to shake his head Judgment continued. "You'd be surprised Lues. Bella really cares for you, whether she still has a crush on you or not." The boy huffed but did as the Gods' asked of him and vanished to reappear in the mortal's room.

His ears were met with sobs and he squinted his eyes in the darkness to try and locate the source of the sound. "Bella?" Lues stepped forward, but paused at a harsh intake of breath. "Bella, come on. I know you're in here." He moved around until he found the light switch. With a quick flick of his finger the room was bathed in light, yet the girl was still nowhere to be seen. Lues sighed and made his way to the closet. He sank down on the other side against the door and let his head thump back as he gazed up an the ceiling. The boy knew she was in there. Bella always used to hide there whenever she cried about her parent's divorce. "Wanna tell me what's going on or am I going to have to sit here until you do?" His question was met with muffled sobs. "You're going to have to come out eventually. I mean have you eaten dinner yet?" Lues smiled when she cracked.

"Go away Lues." Her voice was wobbly and rough with tears.

He knocked his head back into the door to show his defiance. "Not until you tell me what's up." Suddenly he heard shuffling and he stood up quickly with a smirk of triumph. The closet door slammed open forcefully and Bella stomped her way out. Her hair was messed up, her eyes were red and puffy, and she threw the blanket she had balled up at his face in anger. Lues rolled his eyes at her tantrum and let the cloth fall silently to the ground.

"What's wrong!? What's wrong?!" Her voice grew in volume. "You tell me, Lues!" She scowled. "We both know I'm crazy! Talking to thin air!" Bella chocked as she started crying again. "What's wrong you ask? What's wrong is that none of you are real!" She folded her arms around her stomach and looked away. The mortal sighed and whispered, "None of you are real and it's time I move on."

For a moment, Lues couldn't do anything but stare at her in shock. He walked forwards at her whisper but jolted to a stop when she backed away from him. "Bella, come on." He pleaded. "I know you don't believe that. Don't do this." The girl bit her lip and shook her head, she kept her eyes away from him. "Seriously? After everything all of us have been through together you've just decided to throw it all away. Really?" Lues looked at her with disbelief and when she didn't say anything else he sneered. His voice was void of all but disgust when he finally spoke again, "Fine. But don't expect Perses, Nyx, or me to ever come near you again. I doubt our mother will want anything to do with you either." He spun on his heal to vanish but paused before phasing away. "You're going to regret this Bella. I hope you know that." With that final comment he left and the teenager sunk to floor in tears once more.

And even though after that she began ignoring the Gods' all together, nothing ever changed. She was still the crazy girl at her school. Most of all, she hated that she'd drove Chaos and her children away. It was just like Lues had told her. None them ever came near her again and even though the other's still did; she couldn't find it in herself to respond to them. She regretted it. How could she not when she found herself all alone and her best friend wasn't there to cheer her up.

* * *

Balance sighed as he listen to Chaos raged on about the mortal. He understood where she was coming from. The wizard would have acted the same way if it were his own kids' in question.

"Heart was right." The Goddess of Destruction said firmly. "We should have kept our distance. Why the hell I actually believed this was a good idea." She trailed off with a sigh and shook he head. "My children are heartbroken and Nyx, Nyx is inconsolable. Bella was her best friend." Chaos snorted angrily and her voice grew louder. "Her only friend besides her brothers really and that." The Goddess had to pause and take a breath in an effort to control her volume. "That girl ruined everything. Eight years of loving her as my own daughter and she tosses it to the side like it's nothing!" Balance looked away with a pained expression. The wizard felt the same. Chaos leaned back in her chair heavily and met each of her fellow Gods' faces. "I'll never accept her again." The woman declared seriously. "She has caused my family mayhem by her own actions and I will never forgive her for that pain."

As the Mother and Fate tried to make Chaos see reason, Balance looked upwards to the glowing orbs lighting the Chamber. Bella was wasn't just straying from Fate's path. The girl was completely rewriting it. His hope that she would aid them when the time came was wavering. The man sighed, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Balance feared this realm would die after all and consequently take them all with it.


	11. Diverged From Fate's Path

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note: I've uploaded a companion piece to this story titled, The Enhanced Souls, which focuses on the other Gods and their reactions to the Void of Judgment. It will also contain scenes that I was unable to fit into this story and I'm thinking of writing some ships to brush up on writing romance. The pairings will not be concrete and it's more of an exercise than anything else, but go check it out if you're interested. And if you have anything you wanted to happen in this story but didn't then hit me with a prompt and I'll try to do my best by it. Anyway, we're close to the end now. We only have two more chapters left as well as a bonus chapter I wrote from Bella's point of view. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Diverged from Fate's Path

Balance frowned as he watched the mortal pack her bags. So it was true then. Warmth had said she was moving to live with her father, but he and Fate weren't convinced. Fate's path was for Bella to stay with her mother, not this. It had been two years since she'd last spoke to any of them. The wizard sighed and moved to sit on the chair at her desk. "I wish you wouldn't do this." He told her as he leaned over and rested his elbows on the desk to better gaze out the window. "You're too young to understand what this could mean for you. You have always been special child, but this." He shook his head. He couldn't tell her. Not that she was really listening to him anyway.

The man closed his eyes and thought about the shift of energy in their soul. It had started a year ago. Bella had been talking to her mother about moving to live with her father and her energy spiked. It shouldn't have been able to do that and yet the spikes kept happening. They were increasing more and more in rate and Fate believed it was because of the change in her relationship with them. She thought that instead of the mortal developing light traits and stronger emotions she was trying to change her entire being. Balance had taken her theory and expanded on it in his own time. He'd yet to confront the other Gods about it, but the wizard was positive he was right and what a scary thought that was. Bella was pushing back all of the influence the Gods had gifted her with. She was rejecting her destiny. Merlin, she was rejecting her soul. Such a thing had never happened before and he had no idea how to fix it.

Balance wasn't sure how she was managing it, but he now knew without a doubt that her gifts were leaking. There were too many variables to consider when trying to pin point the main reason they had leaked in the first place. It could have been anything really; a side effect of having a written destiny or because it was given in the womb, it could have been the dulled emotions and limited traits, perhaps the weak bonds she held or the energy from the Judgment Hall, it even could have been the large and unique shape of her soul. Balance was positive the biggest factor was the above average amount of willpower she contained. Bella was doing the impossible exactly like they had planned. The problem was that she was doing it in such a way that with these energy spikes, Balance feared for the realm and what could happen if the energy ignited.

The wizard stood up. "You should know that no matter where you go, Bella, we will continue to watch over you." He huffed when she made no sign of acknowledgement to his word. "Even more now with the direction you're taking." With that said Balance vanished back to the Chamber to report his findings.

* * *

Judgment frowned in worry as he watched the mortal befriend her peers at her new school. The God walked through the crowd to sit at the nearest table to her. "We have never discouraged you to make friends child." Judgment blinked in surprise when she looked at him and gave her a nervous smile, "But you need to be careful. Changing things too fast will cause you damage." The man frowned at the sneer she sent him when he said that. Judgment opened his mouth to reword what he meant, but the soul's new friend interrupted him.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" The girl poked Bella's face and gave her a confused look. Bella waved her hand in a dismissive gesture and mutter something about her crazy rearing it's ugly head. Louder she said, "Nothing, so what were you saying again?"

The God scowled when the mortal ignored his other attempts to catch her attention. Judgment stood with her when the bell rang. "Just remember that all we have done was to aid you." He sighed when she ignored that as well. The man turned to move out of the swarm of students, but a sudden sharp spike of energy had him whirling back around. Judgment frowned and came to a decision. The God easily made his way after the mortal and was surprised to walk into the classroom and find Fate already there. The Goddess was perched up on the teacher's desk and grinning at Bella's annoyed look. The pixie nodded to him when she spotted him which had Judgment smirking in slight amusement. The God made his way to the white board to prop himself against it.

As he stared at the mortal he was overcome with the familiar feeling of awe. It was one of the things that made Bella so special. Not only could she see them, but she could touch them as well. All the other mortals walked right through them and were oblivious to their existence. He grinned at the discreet finger she shot them. The man hoped he and Fate distracted her enough that she didn't learn anything. Maybe that way she'd confront them or something and they could finally have an actual conversation. Judgment rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and pursed his lips. The man huffed at his rather unrealistic scenario, like that would ever happen.

As the bell gave a final ring the teacher made her appearance and moved to begin her lesson. Fate scowled and walked over to stand beside him. Together the two had an obnoxiously loud conversation and they reveled in the frustration on Bella's face. They both startled as a more powerful spike lashed out of her. "I'm calling Balance." Fate shakily whispered. "He knows the most about souls." The Goddess stared warily at the girl before her, to caught up in her worry, so Judgment called Balance instead.

The wizard appeared and frowned at their location. Balance couldn't even get a word out before Judgment was gesturing at their soul and softly explaining what had happened. The other God listened attentively as Judgment spelled out the situation to him. The wizard stared at the mortal thoughtfully as he learned more. "Come." He looked to both Fate and Judgment and adopted a conflicted expression, "We're going to the Chamber. There's something I've been meaning to bring up at the past few meetings, but I was hesitant. I should have said something the moment I noticed what was happening." The two other Gods looked at him in worry and together the three left for the Chamber. Once there Fate called the other's to meet them.

* * *

Bella frown in annoyance and did her best to ignore Fate and Judgment's presence, but it was a difficult task to accomplish with their insufferable volume. The girl hissed in anger, but her expression shifted abruptly into a frown when they both suddenly tensed. She watched in bewilderment as they began talking in hushed tones and sending her fearful looks. The unexpected arrival of Balance had her wary. She furrowed her brows and leaned forward in her seat to try and listen in. What was going on?

The seventeen year old scowled in frustration when she was unable to pick up any of their conversation over her teacher's voice. She jerked when her table mate elbowed her and whipped her head in their teacher's direction. The woman gave her unimpressed look and raised at her eyebrow in irritation, "Something you'd like to share with the class, Bella?" The woman huffed as Bella sank down in her seat with a shake of her head, "No? That's what I thought. Now as I was saying." Bella tuned her out and glanced back to where the trio once stood, but they were gone.

Bella spent the rest of her classes distracted by what had occurred and shrugged off her friends' attempts to get her to hang out after school. By the time she had finally reached her house and collapsed in her bed, Fate was already there waiting for her. The girl bit her lip with indecision as she watched the pixie from the corner of her eye. Unable to keep herself from prying since it was obvious whatever had happened concerned her, she rolled over to face the other girl. "What's going on? Why'd you all look at me like that?" Her voice was soft and she couldn't help but feel ridiculous for acknowledging her imaginary friends again. This was like the forth time today, just what had gotten into her? Bella pressed her lips together when Fate turned away from her. She sat up and opened her mouth to demand an answer, but the other girl was having none of that. The pixie slammed her hand into the wall and Bella tensed at her expression.

"You do not have the right to question us with your disgusting behavior." The woman's face twisted and her voice grew in volume as she spoke, "What in the realm is wrong with you child?! To go so far as to destroy yourself, just what do you think you're playing at here?! This isn't some kid's game Bella!" Fate looked away from her and clenched her hands at her side, "You decided you could no longer acknowledge us if you wanted to 'grow up', but you haven't made any true progress in doing what you've said. You are still just as much of a child as you were when we first met."

Bella stared at the pixie with wide eyes as her words sunk in. It didn't take long for her to be overcome by rage. She flung herself off her bed and glared at Fate with indignation. "How dare you say that to me when every single one of you have brushed off my questions. I grew tired of your almighty attitudes and made the only decision I could to have some semblance of normalcy. I had to move on Fate! There was no other choice if I wanted to keep what little sanity I had left! So don't you dare start this with me!" Bella screamed in outrage when the other girl didn't even glance at her and phased through the wall. She stormed through her house and searched for her, but found no sign. The girl bit her lip hard to keep her tears from overflowing. She would not cry. She would not allow them to break her.

Fate faintly listened their soul's turmoil from where she sat outside. The Goddess had to hold on tight to her own strength to keep her own eyes dry. Why did things have to end up like this? Where had they'd gone wrong with the child? She took a deep breath and wished Balance had just kept his mouth shut. She didn't want to accept it. The dam broke and Fate curled into herself as her body shook under the weight of her sobs.

* * *

"What's this all about?" The Mother questioned as she took her seat next to Heart. Balance sighed and moved to sit on her other side. For a moment he didn't speak. He wasn't sure whether his companions could handle his suspicions. The wizard frowned when he finally began, "It's about Bella." He shot Chaos a warning look when she stood up. "Sit down. This is important." The man rolled his eyes at the glare she shot him, but felt his tension ease when she sank back down. He took a deep breath and surveyed the curious and worried expressions around him. "I've been keeping an eye on and doing research on these spikes of energy." Balance dragged his hand over his face and sighed. He stood up in agitation and started pacing. "Like I told Fate and Judgment I should have told you all this a long time ago, but I don't know how to fix it. As it turns out, Fate was almost onto something with her theory on theses spikes. She didn't look far enough though. So I took it upon myself to analyze what was happening and the truth is that Bella's rejecting her soul. That's what's causing her energy to spike."

He ignored the other's gasps and focused on his movements. "I picked up on it a few weeks after Fate came up with her theory. Essentially, Bella so desperately wants to be normal that the energy leaking from the seals are trying to change her soul to match her desires. I only noticed it because I have an understanding on accidentally magic and this event is almost identical." He looked up to meet the Mother's face and smiled softly, "Lily once floated out of her highchair when she decided she wanted to play instead of eat lunch. She was only ten months old and Ginny was ecstatic." Balance was too focused on the issue at hand that he didn't pick up on the fact that only the Mother, Heart, and Chaos seemed to have any idea of who he was referencing. He shook his head and continued, "The point is that accidental magic reacts to the child's wants and demands. Similar to what Bella herself is doing. The difference is that Bella doesn't hold a magical core." The wizard paused to give them all a serious look to convey the importance of that. "Instead she has an enhanced soul that is reacting to her desire to be normal. She's destroying herself. If we can't get her to understand soon then the consequences could be dire. Bella will most defiantly achieve her desire eventually and it will shatter her soul." He paused and let that sink in before imparting the worst part. "We don't have time to make another enhanced soul and the backlash the energy would cause to the realm might destroy it right along with her." Silence followed his revelation and the wizard moved to retake his seat.

Heart spoke up first. "Why don't we do some kind of roster?" The compassionate man looked around. "All of us can take turns watching Bella to make sure her energy doesn't explode. We can't tell her what's happening. Not only will she not understand, but I doubt she'd believe us." Chaos scowled and stood up to sneer her displeasure, "That's fine for the rest of you, but I want no part in it. I lost my faith in that girl a long time ago." The Mother frowned at her, "I know you still care for her Chaos." She tried to go on, but her fellow Goddess remained firm. Chaos took it upon herself to disappear from the Chamber in a clear sign of indifference. Though the Gods knew her better than that by now. The Mother sighed and looked to Heart, "Let's figure out the timing and go from there."

Warmth nodded and added, "Fate, if you can keep a close watch on the possibilities of souls in her vicinity, then we can predict whether her energies will clash sooner rather than in the Void like we planned." Fate hummed her agreement and volunteered to take the first shift, "Let's do two or three weeks each. Balance can go after me." Soon the Gods had a working schedule and Fate left for the realm. She was completely unaware of the confrontation that awaited her as well as the drastic impact it would have on her composure.

* * *

Another year passed and their soul was graduating. The Mother watched from the crowd as Bella received her diploma. The woman couldn't help the bittersweet feeling of pride that swelled within her. She had watched this child grow. The Goddess had read her stories and played childish games with her. Bella was truly one of them at one point, but now the woman worried about her reaction when she reached the Judgment Hall. That was if she reached the Judgment Hall.

The Mother feared Bella would be unable to accept her reality. The girl's energy was flowing out in waves by now and affecting the souls around her. It made them stop talking mid sentence to pause and glance around in confusion. Who knew how worse it would become as time passed. Here was this little girl who wasn't so little anymore. A girl they had all depended on before she was even born. As the Goddess watched the graduation proceed she couldn't hide the brief disappointment that marred her face. Here they had some mortal girl with no real knowledge of her power and completely oblivious to what they had in store for her. A power that could unknowingly decimate the realm; the same realm that she was created to save.

Like the rest of her companions, the woman clung to Fate's words on the future. That didn't hold back her fear of when the Goddess of Destiny would see the child destroyed. She hoped Chaos was wrong and that her faith in this child was not misplaced. Her entire existence ached at the thought they'd created her and she might die because of their own carelessness.


	12. A Prodigy's Ruin

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.**

 **Author's Note:** **This was very difficult for me to write. Writing these kinds of scenes are not my strong point and I know I need to work on them. If any of you have some hints for scenes like this then I wouldn't mind some writing tips. I actually rewrote this a few times until I was satisfied. Anyway hope you guys enjoy!**

A Prodigy's Ruin

Fate stood off to the side in a large clearing in the woods with her face twisted in despair. She was the Goddess of Destiny for heaven's sake and yet she never saw this coming. The pixie took an unsteady step forward and her legs gave out. She fell to the forest floor with a whimper, her eyes wide in disbelief and pain. This was unwritten. Briefly, the thought that this was always a possible path for their soul flitted through her head, but she stubbornly crushed it in an effort ease her guilt. She should have been more thorough when she'd given Bella her fate. The child was never meant to stray this far.

Just this morning she had greeted Heart at Bella's house and swapped places with him. Her guilt surged up once more and her entire being seemed to pulse out energy in distress. The woman never noticed her companions appearing beside her with concerned expressions, much too caught up in the memories from that morning. It had been like every other visit before except for when Bella's friend, Jessica, stopped by. Fate had stood by silently and watched as the other human tried to convince their soul to change clothes and play baseball with their friends. The Goddess had a somber smile on her face as she thought of how Bella used to do the same with Chaos's children. Always so eager to play games with them and have fun. Fate couldn't help but encourage the girl to go out with them. She didn't know if Bella had heard her or not. Perhaps she just grew tired of her friends insistence and gave in. Yet for whatever the reason, Fate would never forgive herself for the small part she played in the mortal's demise.

A hand settled on her shoulder and she looked up into green eyes. "Fate, how... what happened? Bella was supposed to live a safe life for at least a few more years." Fate shook her head as tears welled in her eyes and regret grew heavy in her stomach. She shrugged off Balance's attempt to help her up and looked mournfully back at the gruesome massacre before her. She should have seen this coming. What use was there to see a soul's future if she missed something this big? Her mind morbidly tried to reassure her by telling her that maybe this was how things were supposed to be. Bella had tampered with the Gods' gifts and perhaps this was some type of divine punishment. She felt sick as she thought of how she'd never seen the child's energies collide and therefore the inevitable destruction of the realm. Her voice was coiled tight with grief as she finally answered them.

"I don't know. I never saw this, not in Bella's destiny or any of the other's. How did I not see this?" Her voice cracked and a harsh sob wracked her body. She let herself fall further to the ground till her head hovered above the Earth and let herself be consume by grief. She felt more than heard her fellows Gods circle around her. Allowed one of them to pull her into warm arms and clutched on to them as if at any moment she could tremble out of existence with the force of her cries.

* * *

Balance had to force his eyes away from the breaking Goddess before him as she sobbed into Warmth's arms. He had never seen her so vulnerable before. He looked out into the chaos before him with pained eyes and subconsciously took a few steps forward. His hand slowly reached out as if to help the mortals but was stopped. He glance away from the scattered bats and gloves and soil slowly soaking up blood. Away from the screams of terror and panicked movements. Away from the dark laughter and predators easily slicing through their prey.

"There is nothing we can do for them now, Balance." Her voice was tight and her blonde hair seemed to sway with power. The Goddess of Destruction raised her arms and for the first time since Perses was created she summoned a great storm. And though Balance knew she was right. That didn't stop the helplessness that over came him. He took a deep breath and looked away from the woman that had once seen their soul as a daughter. As thunder cracked across the sky he thought he understood why she summoned the storm. They were observers to the realm. Protectors of the souls and yet they could not intervene in this tragedy. As always they were forced to stand by as lives were taken too soon. He let his eyes drift close and swallowed his cries. Allowed his head to tilt back as the rain began to drizzle. Hoping that perhaps it would wash away his sorrows just as well as cleanse the dirtied soil beneath them. He would let this storm show his grief and do his duty as a God of this realm.

His eyes snapped back open and he forcefully tugged on his bond with his dementors and called two to his side. Gave them orders to drag the souls' bitten and drain to the Judgment Hall before the change could take place and hoped his guilt would ease at their peace. He would take Bella there personally.

As the dark creatures began to flutter around the clearing his eyes searched out the vampires. Vibrant hair the shade of burning scarlet whipped around her as she tore through the mortals with ease. His energy pulsed in pain as he watched her. The color a few shades different than his beloveds yet still somehow managed to make him loose focus long enough to drift off and into old memories. But Ginny was a witch and the only time she'd killed had been in the war. He shook his head and scanned the area in an effort to discover how many there were. He knew there were at least two. The blonde was the first one he noticed after his arrival. Standing in the center of the clearing and harshly clutching a smaller familiar body to him as he drain her dry. He couldn't make himself look over their again yet. That didn't stop his ears from picking up Bella's horrific cries. There, off to the side and playfully swing a baseball bat at one of the pleading mortal was a tall man with dreads clinging to him in the pouring rain. He seemed just as amused as the woman as they took care of the humans trying to escape. And then the shifters came and the tides turned abruptly.

Balance's eyes snapped towards Bella when the other vampire tensed and quickly killed his victim. The blonde male holding Bella seemed to grin around her throat. By now the child had grown quiet, her eyes glazed over and body limp in his arms and yet her soul stubbornly clang to her broken vessel. The vampire careless threw her body to the side and the God flinched at the harsh impact her skull made with the ground. A pained smile flitted across his face as she lost consciousnesses and her soul called to him to ferry her away.

He strode forward and ignored the sounds of battle surging up around him as made his way to the child's side. Carefully, perhaps even lovingly some would say, he gathered Bella's soul and without a backwards glance to the war surrounding him or a word to his fellow Gods. He disappeared to the Judgement Hall. The God was not surprised in the least that only Judgement followed him. If anything he was relieved his comrades would stay and witness the death of the one who destroyed their soul.

* * *

Chaos felt a satisfied smile spread across her face after Balance and Judgement's departure. She let a dark laugh escape her as the wolves engaged the vampires. She always knew deep down that when it came time for Bella to die. That she would grieve for her despite the front she put up in front of the other's. Though displeased with the child's decision and actions toward her family, she could never truly stop loving her. As the rain flooded the Earth and thunder echoed across the heavens. The Goddess reveled in the justice playing out before her. She flourished in all types of chaos, even the ones she'd rather ignore. With a grim smirk on her face she resolved to be the one to tell their soul of what became of her murderers. Bella deserved that much and while Chaos would never truly know what happened to her own attackers. She felt a small bit of peace at giving the child her own piece of closure.

Only once the last vampire had fallen did any of the other Gods move. Chaos let herself show her sorrow at the two wolves that had fallen with them. She stood with her companions as a chorus of haunting howls broke the silence in the clearing. She vaguely heard the Mother say that the two would be welcomed warmly in the Void and Heart's soft command that they should go. The Goddess allowed the chaos that had surged her power to lift the storm and let the warmth of the sun ease the warriors before her. Though it was against her nature, she hoped bringing light back into the darkness would help heal their souls. Before she disappeared she saw a black bear cub rush toward the pack of wolves as they gathered their broken. Chaos turned to smile softly at Strength but the God was gone.

Chaos hoped that the cub would help strengthen the pack before her as well as the man himself could. With one last glance around the clearing, she disappeared to meet her companions in the Ancient Void. It was painful that despite her attitude towards Fate, Chaos had dreamed Bella's life and death would be peaceful. She always knew better though. Like all of them, her end was tragic and the soul would likely carry the trauma it caused into her new existence. The Goddess knew things would never be the same between them but perhaps she could allow herself to hope for a new beginning. It all depended on what happened when Bella awoke in Judgement's sector.


	13. A Soul's Purpose

A Soul's Purpose

She opened her eyes and discovered more darkness. The young woman slowly sat up and her eyes searched futility for some sign of light. She felt unbalanced as she sat alone in the nothingness. The ground beneath her seemingly solid yet she felt as if she was floating, drifting off and into the abyss. The woman found this odd.

As her hands felt around where she sat, Bella couldn't help the snort that escaped her. So this was death, huh? Strange. She had never been an overly religious person in life. It was kind of hard to be when you saw and heard things no one else could. Even so, the young woman couldn't help the brief disappointment she felt. She was dissatisfied with this supposed afterlife. It wasn't as if she was expecting all the stories to be true, but people had flat lined before and miraculously returned into the world of the living. They wrote books and told tales. Though Bella had never had much interest in those kind of books. She was more of a lore and adventure kind of girl.

Still she couldn't stop the small frown of displeasure at this rather anticlimactic ending. Where was the white light? She'd been drained of her blood by some mythical creature and this was it, really? Her life hadn't even flashed behind her eyes. If anything she had thought back on her better moments herself; sifting through her fonder memories as she died. Nothing at all like the stories told.

The young woman sighed. It was always her, wasn't it? Even in death nothing was normal for her. She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head between them. What now? If this was how she was supposed to exist after death then she'd much rather be unaware of her surroundings. It was ironic really. When she was alive she had never fit in. She had made up friends for herself and they had never left even when she had outgrown them. Alone, always so alone. Bella huffed bitterly. After trying so hard to have real friends and be normal, nothing had changed.

Perhaps things would have been different if she had embraced her crazy instead of denying it. After all it was her own fault that she was so alone. She could have had her invisible friends forever if she had just accepted them. Why did it bother her so much if they were real or not? The young woman couldn't remember her reasoning for that right now. It didn't seem so important in the grand scheme of things.

"Welcome child, to the Ancient Void where all souls are born and meet their demise." A voice rang out through the darkness, startling her. How strange, Bella was almost sure she had heard that voice somewhere before. It was so familiar yet it held a quality she had never heard in it before. What was it? She was missing something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The woman opened her mouth to correct the voice and tell it that she was not a child, when she was interrupted.

"We have waited three days for you to awaken child. Never before has a soul taken so long to awaken in the Void." The woman frowned. This one was different than the one from before and still so familiar. Her eyes widen and she stood up to better peer into the nothingness. She knew that she had heard these beings before. The change in their voices had her doubting if it was really them. But maybe, just maybe. Balance had spoken the truth.

It seemed even in death she could not escape her childhood fantasies. She fleetingly recalled the time she was packing her bags and preparing to move to Forks. Bella had done her best to ignore him as always, but his words had haunted her. They had made her fear that starting over would be useless and in the end it apparently was. Whether in Washington or Arizona she would never be rid of them. Just like he'd once told her, "You should know that no matter where you go, Bella, we will continue to watch over you."

And Bella laughed as the truth of that statement sank in. "I guess I should have put more faith in your words, Balance. Y'know, I should be annoyed that I couldn't escape any of you, but all I feel right now is relief. I'm glad that even after I've hurt you all that you're all still here. I have never truly been alone, have I?" She sighed at the torn feeling she was exhibiting. Should she feel blessed or unfortunate with that knowledge. The young woman couldn't decide and her voice grew bitter. "Even in death you have followed me. I should have seen this coming. Tell me why, why me? What makes me so special? Surely you can give me that much at least or am I still too 'young' to understand?"

Bella waited, straining her ears in the darkness for the one answer she had always wanted to know. She was met by silence. When she laughed this time it came out slightly more hysterical than before. "I should have known." She whispered to herself and brought her hands up to her face. "Gees Bella, get a grip." Slowly she sank back down and curled back into herself. "They aren't real and you're delusional."

As she was engulfed in the silence and tears began welling in her eyes she had one last thought. "I'm sorry." She didn't know who exactly she was apologizing to. Perhaps to her mother and father who she'd left behind or to her friends for dragging them down with her. Maybe even to the imaginary people who had always surrounded her and yet had never had the chance to live in reality. Bella let go off the sob she was holding when another voice broke through the silence.

"Bella, don't you remember what I told you all those years ago." The young woman gave a choked laugh as who she recognized as the Mother continued. "Even though those around you remain skeptical. I assure you that we are very real and we will always be here for you."

And as Bella's sobs grew in volume the beings around her could only feel relief. With how long it had taken her to awaken; they had feared that the chance of her ever awakening was nonexistent. Their soul truly was something special.

-line break/time skip-

Judgment waited for the last of them to arrive. When he finally felt Strength's presence in his domain he began. "As you can no doubt tell, our plan worked. Her energies have merged smoothly." It was almost awing how seamlessly the energies swirled together. If they hadn't had done so many impossible things over the decades then Judgment might have been a bit more struck by it. As it was he found himself already confident and assured that nothing would go wrong.

"We can't be certain all is well yet." Heart's voice echoed through the Hall and Judgment frowned unhappily. It was annoying how the man seemed to be so confident in things working out and yet he was always the first one of them to bring forth their doubts. "The child's soul is still dormant. We have no reason to believe that her powers can heal the realm nor that she will be able to properly wield them."

Judgment mutter under his breath about Heart being the one who was unable to have faith in their abilities. The God scowled in the direction of Fate's energy when she supported the other man. "He's right. We won't discern anything until Bella awakens. Judgment how long does it usually take souls to awaken in order for you to judge them?"

The God in question rolled his eyes even though he knew his companions couldn't see him. "Anywhere from eighteen hours to a full day in mortal time." The man huffed in irritation when one of his Sprites started pestering him about a tainted soul's entrance into the Void. He knew the other's could sense it as well and he needed to dispose of it before it started influencing Bella. "As you can see a situation has just popped up. Why don't you all go about your business and I'll call you back when our soul awakens."

Judgment moved in the direction of the dark energy and waited for his fellow Gods' to acknowledge his words and disperse. He huffed at the Mother's soft agreement and let the tension roll off him as their energies faded from his Hall. It wasn't as if he was trying to be difficult or anything. It was just that he was a little disgruntled at the disruption of Fate's path for their soul. The man shook his head in regret. He knew the other's wouldn't hold it against him since they were all a little touchy at the moment. Well if he based his findings on what the link was sending him then they were.

The God let his conscience fade as his power welled up to destroy the forsaken soul before him. It never got easier doing this. As with every time he had to face a tainted soul, his entire being was consumed by the tragedy of it. In the end, a soul was a soul and to extinguish such a thing was never painless for him. It was their responsibility to protect the souls and yet they could not save all of them. Once more all of them had failed as Gods. Judgment sighed, he just wished there was a way to purify the poor thing. Perhaps when things finally calmed down a bit he could search for it. His lips twisted in grief. The problem was that he had no way of trying different methods without it harming the other souls in his Hall. He would have to create a space where he could separate the tainted souls from the pure ones and even then the thought of experimenting with them to save them made him feel sick. They had already been through enough and who knew what could happen if they were allowed to awaken. Their energies might just explode and take half of the Judgment Hall with it.

He would have to bring it up in the Chamber at the next meeting. There was always the chance that his fellow Gods' would offer up a better solution. For now he needed to focus and carry out the task the original God of Judgment had handed him.

* * *

Balance looked on with worry as he watched his companions disappear from the Chamber. Judgment had called a meeting when the twenty-four hours were up and the wizard barely retain anything of what the other had said. After Judgment's announcement that their soul was still dormant he recalled a brief conversation about tainted souls, but had been lost to his own thoughts shortly after it was first brought up.

The man was afraid he had miscalculated somewhere. What was it Lord Death had told him? Something about his gift awakening in the Void. Balance frowned in thought. He was sure that was all the God had mentioned of it. Was it unusually for the gift to awaken before the soul or was that to be expected? He shook his head and left the Chamber to resume his work in the Revival Circle.

Did it matter in the end whether it was expected or not? It wasn't as if he had anyone that could give him a concrete answer. Balance bit his lip in anxiety. If Bella never woke up then everything would be over. Chaos had told Judgment to force her awake, but the man had told her he could not use his gifts to influence a soul until they awakened. So they were stuck in a waiting game and had no other options then to hope the the child would in fact awaken someday. How long would they be held in suspense on this? Decades it had taken to forge an enhanced soul and minutes to grow fond of it. Balance had watched over that child from the very beginning and she had died too soon. Eighteen years and still his feelings on her capabilities wavered.

Two more mortal days passed and Balance came to the realization that he was relived they didn't have the time to create another enhanced soul. He didn't think he could handle the grief. Why was he always leaving people behind? Why was it that he always managed to indirectly lead people to misfortune? The wizard tried not to think back to the children he had left behind in the other realm. But thinking about Bella's joy at his stories and demands to tell them to her friends had his entire being trembling with loss. He missed those days.

The first time he painted a world of magic for Bella and Chaos's children had him reminiscent of his old life. He had only gone to check up on the eleven year old and wasn't planning to stay for long. But upon seeing him the girl had upfront demanded he join their tea party and tell her more stories. Balance had given her an overly dramatic sigh and looked to Chaos for support. Her smirk and nod towards the tiny empty chair was her only answer. The man grudgingly made his way over, but he wasn't to upset by the arrangement. Though he did feel ridiculous sitting at kid sized table.

"And what sort of story are you looking for?" His voice came out amused when she reached for the plastic tea pot and poured him a cup of imaginary tea. The mortal frowned and gave him a look that screamed, 'you know exactly what I'm talking about', and waited for him to began. Balance snorted at her face. The girl was spending to much time with Nyx if she was picking up her habits that easily. The wizard obligingly picked up his cup and pretend to take a sip as he thought of fitting story to tell. His lips quirked up in a small smile and with an air of innocence he asked, "You're eleven now, aren't you?"

Balance laughed when her mouth dropped open and she adopted an affronted look. He cut her off when she started rambling about how friends don't forget their friend's birthdays. "I didn't forget. Merlin, calm down child. I came by to wish you well, did I not?" The man held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Honestly I have know idea where you picked up this nagging trait. Wait, don't start. You want to hear more about Hogwarts, yeah?" His voice was a little more desperate for a change of subject then he wanted it to be. He sighed in relief when the girl smiled and nodded frantically. Really, with the amount trouble he got in with Ginny and Hermione for not using a brain to mouth filter. He figured he should have learned that lesson by now.

"Right, okay then." Balance hunched down in his seat. Not at all pleased with how uncomfortable it was. Well it was made for children which he was not, so. He shook his head, "Every wizard and witch receive a letter inviting them to attend a school of magic when the reach a certain age. I don't know how other countries do it, but from where I'm from that age was eleven." The wizard laughed when the girl gasped in excitement. Really, looking at her now it was impossible to tell that she had heard this all before. Balance guessed she did it to gain the attention of her friends and encourage them to listen since Nyx and Perses suddenly focused on him. Meanwhile, Bella's little crush was listening with the same amount of curiosity and rapture as she herself was. So this was what Chaos meant when she had said Lues loved Warmth's stories. It seemed to him that the boy just enjoyed any old tale of adventure and magic was definitely in that category.

He smiled at the children and continued, "I grew up with my mother's sister and all she ever wanted in life was normalcy. You can imagine how horrified she was to find her estranged sister's son on her porch one morning. You see, Petunia never had magic and she was jealous of my mother for having something so, well magical." He paused to think of the best way to graze over his abuse. But still give them an idea of his own inexperience with his first encounter in the world of magic. "She had a husband and a child of her own and while we never got along all that well things could have been worse. From as far back as I can remember, I always made the strangest things happen around me. My aunt."

Balance was rather abruptly brought back into reality by Judgment's emergency signal. The man frowned in confusion of his surroundings. He'd been dragged into his own memories and it had left him disoriented when he'd returned. What was going on? The man shook his head in an effort to focus. His eyes widened when it hit him, Bella. Something was happening with Bella.

* * *

Even with his momentary loss of thought, Balance was still the first to arrive in the Hall. The second he stepped into Judgment's domain relief slammed into him. The child was awake. Anticipation and hope surged into him right after and a fleeting smile graced his lips as he drew closer to Judgment's and Bella's energies. The man could just make out the sound of her shuffling and couldn't help but wonder if Judgment was caught by his own memories of the Void of Judgment. Balance figured the possibility was low since Judgment saw souls awaken all the time, but it was hard to forget the experience. He amusingly wonder if she too was peering through the darkness as he himself had done so long ago.

With the arrival of the other Gods', Balance felt Judgment's energy move forward slightly and towards their soul as he spoke. "Welcome child, to the Ancient Void where all souls are born and meet their demise." The wizard had to hold back a snort when he heard more shuffling and a gasp. Balance was impressed with his fellow God. He had never before tried to infuse his power in his voice to make such an effect. Well he'd just have to try it out now then, wouldn't he?

"We have waited three days for you to awaken child. Never before has a soul taken so long to awaken in the Void." His voice echoed throughout the abyss and Balance smirked at the surprise from Judgment's side of the link. Mockingly he sent a message to him that it wasn't that hard. The God of Balance couldn't help the excitement he was feeling. Bella was awake and as soon as she mastered her gifts and stabilized the realm. They could focus on reconnecting the Voids. Finally, he was close to getting home.

Balance quirked an eyebrow at the soul's sudden laugh. "I guess I should have put more faith in your words, Balance."

The man in question was astounded at her recognition and the other's own shock reflected back across the link. He moved forward in intrigue, but halted as she continued. "Y'know I should be annoyed that I couldn't escape any of you, but all I feel right now is relief. I'm glad that even after I've hurt you all that you're all still here. I have never truly been alone, have I? Even in death you have followed me." The wizard shook his head at the girl. He had told her that more than once already. It was just that she never really believed him. He frowned as her tone grew bitter and pursed his lips at her next words. "I should have seen this coming. Tell me why, why me? What makes me so special? Surely you can give me that much at least or am I still too 'young' to understand?"

The God had no words to respond and it seemed his fellow companions didn't know how to address her question either. His ears picked up soft mumbling and more shuffling. Balance frowned as silence engulfed the Hall for a moment until two words broke him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry." Bella's voice was strained and it was clear she was close to tears. The wizard bit his lip as he desperately searched for the right words. He needn't try so hard as it appeared the Mother had gain her wits before the rest of them.

Balance could hear the bittersweet smile she had on her face as she said, "Bella, don't you remember what I told you all those years ago." The aforementioned girl made a choked noise. "Even though those around you remain skeptical. I assure you that we are very real and we will always be here for you."

And with that said the child broke. Sobs filled the darkness as she wept and Balance smiled. Slowly he lowered himself down to sit as Fate's voice rang out above and offered her soothing words. He didn't care how long they'd sat there waiting for the girl to calm herself. All that matter was that she had awakened. Finally, Bella took a deep breath and regained some of her composure. "The Ancient Void?" Her voices was rough with tears as she spoke, "Does that mean I'm not dead after all?"

It was Judgment who answered her this time, "In a sense you have 'died'. Like I said, all soul's are born here and it is here they return to face judgment. What happens after depends on how they acted while in the realm." Balance smiled as she gasped and wonder if she would panic like he did with Lord Death. He laughed at her response. He should have known better. Bella was oddly curious despite the traits given to her.

"What do you mean by the realm and what's this whole judgment thing? You can't be serious." On and on she rambled. Merlin, Balance had no idea how she managed it whist needing to breath at the same time. "You're not trying to tell me that all this time my imaginary friends were Gods, are you? I've lost it. No, I lost it a long time ago."

Fate's giggle had her pausing. "The realm is the place you resided in before here. It's what you mortals call 'Earth'." The wizard rolled his eyes at the feeling of her energy. He could practically see her through the darkness bouncing on the balls of her feet. "The Ancient Void is divided into two sections. Balance's domain, the Revival Circle, where souls are forged as well as filtered back into the realm and Judgment's domain, the Judgment Hall, where souls are judged and either destroyed or returned back to Balance so they can restore the energy they lost in the realm."

Chaos picked up where she left off and Bella's breath hitched at her voice. "You will be judged." The Goddess's voice was soft and stung with remorse. "But not like any soul of this realm before you. You are different child, special." Balance could only imagine the mixed feelings their soul was experiencing with those words. If he went by her earlier reactions of every time they had called her that. Then it probably wasn't anything good. Though he knew she saw Chaos as another mother figure next to her own, so perhaps hearing her after so long had eased the sting a bit.

The wizard stood back up and spoke when it became clear that Chaos would say no more. "You have been given gifts, Bella and once you master them you will heal the realm." As the child took that in Balance anticipated her next question. "We believed it would make things easier on you if you didn't have the weight of such a task baring down on you. While you learn to wield your powers you will be informed of why the realm needs you."

Balance peered into the darkness as her energy shifted. "What does this mean for me? Does this make me a Goddess or something?" Her voice was weary and the man had to shake his head to clear his thoughts as his own time of judgment surged forth once more.

The Mother quickly corrected her, "No. Not yet and perhaps not ever. You are a soul with extraordinary powers." Warmth interrupted her when she hesitated in her explanation, "Your main focus will be the realm. Heart has been experimenting with a way to connect you to it since you were first sent to the realm. He hasn't perfected it yet, but it will take time for you to learn how control your gifts."

Nothing more was said on the matter and Bella didn't offer up any more questions to be answer. Balance broke the settling silence, "I suppose I should welcome you, huh?" He smirked in the direction of her energy, "Welcome Life, to your new existence." He snorted when she repeated her title in confusion. "I figured Life fit you pretty well since we hope that someday soon you will breathe life back into the realm." The wizard walked towards her energy and reached out to grab hold of her. She squeaked in surprise when he grasped her shoulder and found herself out of the darkness.

Balance let go of her and backed up to give her some space as she took in her new surroundings. When she glanced back at him with eyes full of doubt. He made a large gesture by opening his arms as if inviting her into a hug. The man gave her a reassuring grin, "Well Bella, welcome to the other half of the Ancient Void, the Revival Circle. Let's see how well you retain your first lesson in control."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Whelp, this is the last chapter. I have a drabble/snippet chapter in Bella's point of view that I'll upload in a bit. I plan to post it at the same time as the first chapter of the sequel. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and till next time, bye for now.


	14. Imaginary Gods

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.

 **Author's Note** : This is a bonus chapter from Bella's point of view of how she felt growing up with the Gods. It's more like snippets than anything else. Anyway, before you read it I'm giving you a fair warning that this isn't cannon compliant with her childhood from the Twilight series. You've probably already picked up on that from the previous chapters though. I also have a poll up on my profile addressing pairings (if you want them, if you don't, or who you want them with, ect...).

 **IMPORTANT:** Sequel is up, it's called "Her New Reality". Go check it out if you're interested.

* * *

Imaginary Gods

Age: Nine

For as long as Isabella Marie Swan could remember, she had seen the most strangest of people. When she was younger she had believed they were real.

It wasn't until her mother asked, "Sweetie, aren't you getting a bit too old for imaginary friends?" That the little girl began to have her doubts.

One day when Chaos brought over her kids to play with her, the nine year old asked, "Chaos, are you and the other's real? Mommy always tells me you're imaginary. She's lying isn't she? Nyx, Perses, and Lues aren't imaginary right?" Chaos had given her that look all adults seemed to have. The one that said she wasn't old enough to understand yet. Bella hated that look from the first moment she understood what it meant.

"You shouldn't worry about such things, Bella." The blonde smiled at her. "Some day in the future you'll come to understand." The mother of three stood back up from where she had knelt down and shooed her away to join her friends. Bella stormed off. What did she know anyway? She was a big girl now, her daddy always told her so.

"Gees, what's wrong with you now?" Nyx questioned her. The other girl huffed and rolled her eyes, "Adults." She stated simply. Off to the side Perses made a sound of understanding. They played together for the remainder of the day until her mother called her in for dinner. Before they left Bella was going to prove to her mommy that she was wrong. The little girl snatched up her best friend's hand and dragged her inside to find her mother.

She found her cleaning the pot she cooked with in the kitchen. With an innocent voice she asked, "Mommy, is alright if Nyx stays for dinner?" She wasn't expecting her to throw the wash cloth she was using into the sink and spin around in anger.

"That's enough Isabella! I am tired of you messing around with these." The woman threw her hands up in frustration, "These friends of yours. They aren't real." The little girls eyes teared up and Nyx squeezed her had reassuringly. Her mother huffed. "Why can't you grow up? Honestly Bella, most kids grow out of this when they turn seven."

"But mommy look." Bella tried holding up her and Nyx's conjoined hands and waving them at her mother.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I said that was enough. Either sit your butt down at the table or go to your room." The woman yelled out. The sound caught the attention of her father who walked into the room.

"Just what is all this yelling about?" The man looked between them with a raised eyebrow. Bella dropped the hand she was holding and took off for her room. The little girl couldn't stand the thought that her father might agree with her mother over her.

"Bella, sweetheart?" Chaos asked her gently having witnessed the whole episode. The young girl whirled around halfway down the hallway to her room.

"Go away!" She screamed. "All of you! None of you are real!" With that she rushed off and slammed her door. Completely missing the looks of hurt that surfaced across her friends' faces and the pained one on their mother's.

Slowly the woman gathered her children together. "Give her time. Everything will be okay, you'll see." She reassured them. Perses cast one last glance at his friend's door before nodding and together they disappeared.

Meanwhile, the young girl was overcome with guilt. Suddenly shouting sounded throughout the house. "She's still a child Renée!" The little girl couldn't hold her tears back as the voices grew louder.

"She needs to grow up sometime. For heaven's sake Charlie, I get calls from her school telling me she's getting picked on because of it!" Bella crawled under her blankets to try and block it out. "No! Don't start with me Charlie, I am not doing this right now." The nine year old flinched at the sound of a door slamming and she knew her father had left for now.

That was the last time Bella acknowledged the Gods or any of their creations in public. From that day forth the little girl did her best ignored them outside of her room. As well as the guilt she felt because of it.

* * *

Age: Thirteen

Her parent were divorced a year later and her father moved away to some town called Forks. Though she tried, there were still times where she couldn't break the habit of responding to the people only she could see. Bella grew hate the kids in her class. They always told her she was crazy and called her "Bonkers Bella" or "Psycho Swan". Lues told her to ignore them but as the years went by she started believing they were right.

"Why don't you age?" She questioned Nyx as they sat nestled in some tree in the woods, far away from prying eyes. Nyx shrugged indifferently and jumped down.

"Does it matter?" She responded. "Why you ever put any stock in what those kids say, I'll never know." The girl glanced up as the thirteen year old joined her on the ground. "Come on, we should probably find my brothers or else Mom will lecture me about losing them again."

Bella smirked as her best friend rolled her eyes. "You know I don't care what they say." Nyx snorted. "I don't. I just." She drew out the word and knew the other girl didn't believe her. "It's just odd is all." She continued firmly as she ducked pass a branch. "I mean you haven't changed at all since I met you, none of you have. I'm only curious."

Nyx glanced at her and sighed. "Just wait a little longer," At Bella's huff she hurried on. "I promise one day I'll tell you everything, but I can't yet."

"Oh?" Though her voice was curious it didn't match the annoyed look on her face. "That's what all of you always tell me." She scowled and stopped walking. "One day Bella, just give it time Bella, you won't understand Bella!" She stomped her foot down and squeezed her hands into fists. "What day Nyx! At what time!" She shouted. "Go on, tell me when I'll understand!"

The girl's expression soften at Nyx's conflicted look. She sighed and held up a hand, waving that away. "I'm sorry Nyx. You're just a kid and I know you don't have the final say in things." The teenager gave the younger girl a tired smile, "Come on, let's find those two idiots so we can head back," she started walking again.

"I do want to tell you, you know." Bella glanced over at the shorter with a nod. "I really am sorry Bella and you know how strange that is for me." They both giggled at that. "I just wish things were different."

Bella couldn't agree more.

* * *

Age: Fifteen

The teenager reached a point in her life where she felt she had outgrown all this. Bella was tired of her friend's trying to 'help' her when it felt more like they were manipulating her to do what they wanted. When it came to the three youngest, well. Though the young girl felt bad. She was just to old to hang around with little kids anymore. Invisible or not.

She knew Nyx took it the hardest when she started to outright ignore them. The ten year old would go so far as to scream insults at her just for some kind of reaction. Bella never took the bait and she knew Chaos resented her for hurting her children.

Her mother was right about one thing. She had to grow up sometime.

* * *

Age: Seventeen

She couldn't stand it anymore. Bella had done everything she could to be normal and still the only company she had were her books. The young adult never counted her hallucinations anymore. That's what they were anyway.

Bella had come to accept that she was just as flat out as crazy as her peers told her. Seeing people no one else could couldn't mean anything else. The young woman had come to resent her childhood and the innocence she'd lost that day in the kitchen.

She glanced out the window of the plane. Bella had finally convinced Renée that she'd be fine in Forks with Charlie. The seventeen year old was happy for mother with her new love, but she left to give them space and start over herself. As much as she disliked Forks. She knew this was her one chance to be normal. Though, she wasn't excited about transferring in the middle of her junior year.

She couldn't help but smile at her new beginning. Bella didn't need a lot of friends. If she made just one it'd be enough. The young woman frowned. It was times like these that she regretted her hasty decision with Nyx. She hadn't seen her or the rest of her family since she ignored her two years ago.

Her only consolation was the knowledge that the younger girl wasn't real.

* * *

Age: Seventeen

It's been a month since she'd settled in. Bella brushed off the initial awkwardness with Charlie and did everything she could to ignore her occasional visitors.

She'd reconnected with her only real childhood friend, Jacob, and Jessica welcomed her with open arms. Bella was surprised by how much she enjoyed it. She had always found more comfort in her books than real people. Yet here she was having a blast.

There was one time that she almost broke down into her illusions after she had a nasty fight with Jacob. The girl felt someone sit down on the edge of her bed.

"Y'know, I used to think I was crazy too." A voice sounded. Bella turned her back on him. She'd heard it all before.

The man sighed. "There was even a time where my peers called me 'The Next Dark Lord'." The bed shifted and she knew he'd stood up. "It was because I could hear things they couldn't." He chuckled, "It's strange how much you're turning out like me, Bella, when Fate strung you a different tale."

She didn't respond. She never did anymore. The man sighed once more. "I just want you to know we're here for you if you ever need to talk." He didn't speak again after that and the girl looked behind her. Bella shoved down the pang her heart gave at his disappearance. Her eyes welled up and she crawled under her blanket.

The young woman hated how much she felt like a child in that moment. What she hated even more was the suffocating silence that surrounded her. If they were supposed to be here for her then where were they?

* * *

Age: Eighteen

It was just a friendly game of baseball. Jessica had told her. "Come on!" Her friend whined. "Who cares if you suck at it. At least you'll have fun and get out of this dark room." The blue eyed girl pleaded. "You're my best friend Bella and I'll have no fun without you."

Bella snorted. "That's a bold faced lie." When Jessica opened her mouth to beg some more she sighed. "Okay, okay I'll go."

"Yes, finally. Hurry up and change clothes. I'll be waiting in the car." The girl did a happy dance straight out of her room. Bella laughed at her antics and pulled herself away from her English assignment to get ready.

Twenty minutes later they were cruising down the dirt road to the clearing in the woods. She snorted at her friends' loud gasps and mock shocked expressions when she stepped out of Jessica's car.

"Well would you look at that, Ben." Mike said in a false astonished tone. "The hermit left her room after all." Ben rolled his eyes and gave her a smile. Bella ignore his comment for the most part, only slapping his shoulder when she passed him to talk with Angela.

They had only been playing for ten minutes when it happened. One moment she's preparing to swing the bat and the next she's screaming in pain as her body erupts in fire. She can barely make out her friends' panic over her own screams.

Briefly, from the corner of her eye she notices a group of people on the sidelines just watching her. For a second the pain fades as she thinks back on those easier days when she was younger.

She only wanted to be normal. Not this. It seems she should have listened to her imaginary friends after all.


End file.
